That One Night
by 2310Babixz
Summary: Clare and Eli are both students at a catholic prepatory school, despite both of them not personally belonging to the faith. Clare is a junior, Eli is a senior. They become close friends, but one night changes things forever, making them confused. Signals get mixed, emotions get strung, and hearts are left on sleeves. Slightly OOC for Clare.
1. Meeting Her

_Clare's POV_

I desperately tried to not look anyone in the face. I hated everything about being here. The hallways, the students, the picture of Jesus on every single wall. It all bothered me. If my mom had at least listened to me, I wouldn't be here. I would still be at Degrassi with Alli and Jenna. My mom found out that I was taking drugs, and she sent me here immediately. I am by no means a drug addict, it was just an occasional thing I would do when I was bored or something. It never meant anything. Sometimes I just get lonely, you know? It was just something to do. My mom obviously didn't see it that way. She sent my to counselors, therapists, and even a rehab, but none of them could prove it was an addiction, so my mom sent me here. A catholic school. My mom always raised me catholic and all that, but that doesn't mean I believe in it. I just pretend too. I don't need another lecture about morals. At the end of the hallway I could see my classroom. This school was weird. It was like a old building mixed with modern technology and interior. Whatever. I just kept walking, heading to my locker.

_Eli's POV_

I messed around with my watch. Leonardo was supposed to be here five minutes ago, and we are going to be late for class. I never really cared about school or academics before I came here, but now it mattered that I was on my teacher's good side, so that they would feel bad if I was late or if I did badly on a assignment. I came to this school because I was offered a scholarship. One of the best schools in the area offers _me _a scholarship, who am I to say no? I heard great things about this school, and I knew it was a prepatory school, but I didn't know it was a catholic school, and neither did my parents. We thought about it, and we decided it would be best if I went here instead of head back to Red Wing Academy, which, despite the fancy name, was the trashiest school in the country. Half the girls were pregnant with no baby daddy, everyone drinks and does drugs during classes, and the teachers basically allow it. I hated that school, so I was happy to come here, even if the constant Jesus-talk totally got under my skin sometimes.

I looked back up to see if Leonardo was anywhere in sight, and got a glimpse of the funniest sight I've seen in a while; a new girl barely able to walk in her clunky Mary-Jane's. She looked like a newborn deer. She looked fresh-faced, almost contradictory. Her bright blue eyes made her look like a doll, and her bouncy curls and side bangs made her look like any average girl; add that to her baby face features, and I would think that she was maybe in grade ten, or maybe even nine. There was an edge to her look though. Her skirt was obviously up higher on her legs than all the other girls. It wasn't places any higher on her hips, so she must of cut it. Surrounding her baby blue eyes was dark, smoky makeup, the kind that the other girls here would be too scared to wear. Her accessories were also edgy. She had buttons on her bag that said very suggestive sexual things, and it made her look dangerous, especially in a catholic school.

I met her eyes when I noticed she stopped in front of me.

"Can I help you?" she asked. She has a intense 'get away from me' stare, which was strange, since she came to me.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked, getting even more annoyed. Almost like I'm supposed to read her mind, or something.

"You just look different," I said. I wasn't afraid to the truth to anyone, especially this chick. I could tell I angered her though, and she stepped closer to me and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean by different?" she asked me.

"I mean the other girls would be scared to wear what you wearing," I said bluntly.

"Why is that?" she asked. This girl asks a lot of questions.

"Because it's very suggestive," I said.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked, hitting me in the shoulder. Honestly, it did hurt, but I wasn't going to show that to her. I wasn't trying to be mean, but she obviously doesn't play nice.

"You cut your skirt shorter than everyone else, which violates the uniform and dress code, you have pins on your bag saying very suggestive things, and your eye make up is dark. Some guy might get the wrong idea," I said, explaining myself.

"Like you?" she asked.

"No. Not like me. Remember, you came up to me," I reminded her.

"But you were staring at me," she said.

"Well, it's not everyday you get to see Satan walking down the hallways of a school of God," I said, smirking. I'm not sure if she was trying to play a game or something, but I liked it, even though she was generally annoying. She just rolled her eyes.

"Oh God, your one of the religious freaks, aren't you?" she said. I scoffed. Did she not now where she was? Did she walk into the wrong school this morning?

"They are all religious freaks," I said, gesturing to everyone around us. "I am not though. I am actually a atheist," I added.

She scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Then what are you doing at a catholic school?" she asked.

"Scholarship, and also I didn't know it was catholic. I just knew it was a prep school. Why are you here? You obviously don't believe in it either," I said. She sighed and rolled here eyes again.

"I'm here because my mom believes in it," she replied. I smirked again.

"I'm sorry to here that," I joked. Here eyes narrowed in on me again.

"Whatever," she said, picking her bag up and leaving.

I didn't know who this girl was, but I wanted to know more about her, like why she's _really _at this school.

"What's your name?" I asked, watching her leave.

"None of your business," she said, turning around and flipping me off with both hands.

All the girls around her gasped and gave her a look that would make you think she had murdered someone with her bare hands right there in the hallway. All the guys just gave her nasty, unaproving looks, causing her to laugh at them all before turning the other way.

When she walked away, everyone turned to me, almost as if to say 'what are you going to do about her?' and 'what do you think you were doing with her?'. I didn't care though, I only really liked a few select people here that were like me, so I ignored them.

"Well my name's Eli," I shouted to her.

"Congrats, you can say your own name," she said sarcastically, going to her locker. I made a mental note; 33421. That's her locker.

The bell rang, and I knew I was going to be late, so before I could say anything else, I ran off to my classroom.

_Later on during the day..._

_Eli's POV_

I held a bright red tray in my hand and look across the cafeteria. I kept an eye out for Leo, but since I didn't see him at all today, I figured he was home sick. The cell reception here sucks, so even if he sent me text, I probably wouldn't get it 'till later.

My eyes settled on a lonely table with what looked like nobody sitting there. The tables surrounding it were crowded, so I couldn't see it too clearly, but I figured I'd give it a try anyways.

I walked over, and once I got in close distance of it, I saw that there was someone sitting at the table; the girl from earlier. I stopped when I saw her, because I didn't expect anyone to really be at the table, let alone her. She stopped eating her sandwich when she saw me and she gave me the same nasty stare from earlier.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I want to sit and eat," I said.

"Sit somewhere else," she said, going back to her sandwich.

I looked around the cafeteria once more, but I didn't see any other tables that were empty.

"Sorry. This is the only other table," I said, walking closer. Before I could get too close, she grabbed my tray, causing me to spill my milk.

"Sit on the other side," she said, obviously oblivious to the spill she caused. I smirked and sat the tray across from her.

"Nope. You spilled my milk, now I get to sit wherever I want," I said, taking my seat.

She just glared at me. I smiled back, mockingly, and started eating. I ignored her, but I would occasionally look up and mock her with food, since she wasn't eating now that I was sitting there.

"If you keep staring, your gonna have a empty tummy," I joked.

She slowly unwrapped a fruit cup and started stabbing the fruit with a fork, bringing the pieces to her mouth slowly, one by one.

"Good girl," I said sarcastically.

"Why do you have to be such an ass?" she asked.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch?" I snapped back. She seemed shock to hear me say that, and that's exactly what I wanted.

"I'm not afraid to play this game with you," I said. She leaned forward.

"I just want to eat alone," she said.

"Well I just want someone to eat with. My friends out sick," I said honestly.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with me?" she asked me.

"Your alone too, and your new. Your someone I can talk to," I said.

She didn't say anything. She just looked down at her fruit cup and kept eating. When she looked down, I noticed a necklace that has a big C on it. Ah-ha, so her name must start with a C.

"Is it Cecelia? Charlotte? Caroline?" I asked.

She looked back up with scrunched eyebrows.

"What?" she asked.

"Your necklace has a C. Your name starts with a C, right?" I asked.

She grabbed her necklace and fidgeted with it, twirling it around her finger and twisting it.

"It's Clare," she replied.

"Like the saint?" I asked, knowing it would get under her skin.

"Yes, like the saint," she said louder, obviously annoyed. It worked. I also could tell she's heard that a lot.

I nodded. I at least knew her name.

"Is your full name Eliot or Elijah?" she asked hesitantly after a moment of silence between the two of us.

Hm, looks like she's interested in knowing a little more about me too.

"Elijah," I said.

She scoffed.

"Elijah is a religious name too," she said.

"Yes, but I wasn't named because of religion, but I'm guessing you were," I said.

She looked back down.

"Well you'd be right," she said.

I could tell she really didn't want to be having this conversation, so I must be making her uncomfortable.

"If you really hate me, I'll leave," I said, testing her. This is how I will now if she's worth playing around with a little bit, or if she is really just a bitch.

She just shook her head.

"It's okay. You can stay," she said. She didn't seem enthusiastic. Looks like she might just be boring after all.

"Do you have any friends?" I asked.

She looked back up at me.

"Not here," she said.

"You need some," I said.

She laughed.

"Like you?" I asked.

"Doesn't have to be," I said, looking into her eyes. There was obviously a tension rising. I was already bent over the table to look at her, and she bent over the table too, getting closer to my face.

"Maybe I don't want any friends here," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Maybe I don't care," I said.

We both sat back in our chairs and stared at each other.

I could see through her eyes that she had a lot of questions and emotions going through her mind. Finally, she sighed.

She stuck her hand across the table and held it out for me to shake.

"Hi, I'm Clare Edwards," she said.

Ah, of course. The 'let's start over' approach. Hmph. I'll take it. I shook her hand.

"Elijah Goldsworthy," I said.


	2. Hanging With Friends

_A few months later..._

"Humph," I let out involuntarily while being tackled to the ground. Usually Ken liked to play around the jump on my back, but two pants-less legs wrapped around my waist, so I knew it must have been Clare.

"What did you do that for?" I asked. Clare just giggled, laying on my back.

"Because I knew you'd hate it," she said.

"Well get off!" I said, pushing her off my back.

I felt her body weight come off my back and I slowly pulled myself back up to a standing position.

"What's your problem today?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry I don't like being pummeled to the ground," I said, rubbing my shoulder. I started walking to the front door since it was time to leave.

"Oh, I think someone is embarrassed because a girl brought him to his tummy," she said with a smirk on her face.

"I don't care about a girl beating. I know girls are tough. It's the being crushed by gravity feeling I don't quite appreciate," I said.

"Oh of course. Why do you always have to talk and act all proper?" she asked. I know she hates the way I talk, because I always thoroughly explain myself when she's wrong.

"I don't act or talk proper, I just like explaining why I am always right," I said. She punched my left shoulder, the once facing her.

"Oh, come on Goldsworthy, you can't possibly be that arrogant," she said.

"Uh, yeah, I can," I said.

She rolled her eyes. One thing that was so difficult about talking to Clare was that she always has an attitude. Not the kindest of people.

"You want to go to my house?" she asked.

"Sure," I said.

In the few months I've known her, me and Clare have grown to become good friends. She's told me about her ex-boyfriend/step-brother, her best friends who have ditched her since she's come to a new school, and how her mom is currently on her own since she is on the brink of another divorce. Right now, it's just the two of them, and it's quite pitiful. Her mom has become worthless, always being at home while her husbands worked, and she was always spoiled in expensive things and Clare was sort of pushed to the side. Her mom didn't pay as much attention to her, which is probably why Clare used to party a lot and likes to drink when her mom is home,only in the house. She hasn't exactly come out and said she's wildly party or done drugs, but she's made many vague reference's to what she calls 'crazy nights', so I feel that has a reason to do with why she was transferred to this school, but I still don't know. In response I have told her about my bi-polar and my struggles, but mine aren't as interesting as hers.

I planned on finding out why she's here though. I knew from the moment I saw her that she was someone with a story, and I want to learn it.

We eventually got to her house. It wasn't fancy or rich, probably to her mom's dismay, but it was comfy. It wasn't decorated around any theme, almost like who ever picked out the decor and furniture just looked around and pointed at whatever they liked. That's what made it cozy; it actually felt like a home, not a catalog insert. When we came in, Clare shot past her mother in the bar and went right up to her room, and I of course followed. Clare's room was comfy too, just empty. Maybe everything was organized and put away nice, but I've always wondered why her room has so much empty space.

"Do you want to do our English assignment together?" she asked, kicking herself up on the bed and relaxing. I've also come to know that Clare is a very sloppy person, and since I'm her friend, I am more than subjected to deal with it. Right now, her legs were slightly open and I could see her white lace panties up her school girl skirt.

Sure, it turned me on, but I still see her as my friend, and I didn't want to see that.

"Cross your legs, Clare," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I can see your underwear," I said.

Her cheeks blushed as she sat up and pulled her skirt down. She looked off at the floor. I didn't see why she was so embarrassed though, I mean, we're just friends, aren't we?

"Sure, let's get started on the English assignment," I said, pulling my folders and notebooks out of my backpack.

"Do you mind if I change first?" she asked.

"No, go ahead," I said, taking a seat on the bed.

She slipped off into her walk-in closet and pushed the door in, but not so far as to completely shut the door. I still couldn't see in though. I started reading the assignment again, refreshing my brain with the directions, when the heater kicked on. I heard a creak from inside the room, and looked up at the closet instinctively. The door has opened from the air being kicked on, and now I could see in Clare's closet, and of course, she had to be in front of the door.

With her back to me, I watched her pull on a button up shirt, and slowly button up. She bent over to take her school girl skirt off, revealing her white lace thong and her round, curvy bottom. I mean, I knew Clare had curves, but damn. This was nice. I tried to ignore it though, so I went back to my English assignment, trying to push her out of my mind unsuccessfully.

"Were you watching me?" she asked. I looked back up at the door, and her head was popped out of the door. She didn't sound unhappy or intruded, but rather, confused. Most guys would probably say no, but I knew Clare, and she knew I always told the truth, and that if lied, it would be out of character for me, so I just told her the truth.

"Yes, for a couple of seconds," I said, going back to my assignment.

"Why would you do that?" she asked. Her eyebrows were even more scrunched, and she sounded even more confused.

"I didn't mean to heart or upset you. I just looked up and the door opened," I said.

"Did you see anything?" she asked.

"Yes," I said again, being brutally honest.

"What did you see?" she asked, seeming more curious that upset now.

"Your butt," I said.

She just smirked.

"Lucky you, but it's never happening again," she said before closing the door.

I just shook my head and went back to my paper. Eventually she came out in leggings, a short skirt, and a short-sleeved button up shirt. She took a seat on the bed and we started working on our finished about 45 minutes later.

We sat there in silence for a while, until I asked if she had any more homework.

"No, that's all the homework I got tonight," she said. One thing I liked about our school was that they didn't give us a lot of homework.

"I just have to do something for my science class, but I can probably do it in like, five minutes," I said.

"You can do it now," she said.

"No, that's okay, I'll just to it at home," I said.

"What about the school band concert thing? Have you decided if your going?" she asked. She reached over to the table next to her and grabbed her phone.

"No, that's just not my thing," I said.

"Lauren said her and Christi will be there, and I think their bring Rock," she said, going through her phone.

Rock was a friend of mine, and I liked Lauren and Christi, and I remembered how Ken said he was going to go watch his sister, though he hardly can stay through a show. Besides, when Ken and Lauren get together, we always end up doing something totally different then we planned.

"Sure, if Lauren's coming," I said, leaning onto her bed and looking up at the ceiling.

"You like Lauren?" Clare asked.

"Yeah, she's a fun girl. Her and Ken always do the craziest things," I said, still looking at her ceiling.

"Yeah, that's definitely true. I just didn't know you liked her," she said. I could sense a bit of attitude in her words.

"What's wrong with Lauren?" I asked, still not looking at her. It felt good to just relax and look at the ceiling, and I wasn't going to quite just because she has an attitude.

"Nothing, I guess," she said, but I could tell in her voice that wasn't true.

"Are you scared I'll take your friend away? Because I'm only going if her and Ken will be there," I said.

"Why her _and _Ken?" she asked.

"Because with the two of them, we'll probably end up not watching the show and going on an," I paused to lean on my side and use air quotations to mock Lauren's wording.

"'Adventure,'" I said.

Clare giggled, knowing exactly what I meant by that.

"Do you don't have a crush on her?" she asked.

Oh shoot, I should have watched my wording. I just totally realized that with what I said, Clare probably thought that I _like _Lauren, which I don't. I can't stand being alone with Lauren because of how crazy she is. However, if I did like Lauren, why would Clare even care?

"No," I said.

"Good," she said under her breath, going back to her phone.

I squinted my eyes at her as she ignored me.

"Why is that good?" I asked.

I could see in her eyes, a brief second of panic, but she turned to me and said bluntly;

"She doesn't like you very much," she said.

"Well I don't like her either," I said, laying back on the bed.

Clare chuckled and kept scrolling through her phone.

_At the recital_

_Clare's POV_

Eli was totally right about not doing what we were originally going to do. Lauren and Ken decided to take me, Eli, Christi, and Rock on another on of their 'adventures'. Even though we were supposed to only be in the auditorium, we sneaked out and started walking around the school. Luckily the school was very big, despite the small student population, and as much as I love watching shows be put on in the gorgeous theater, it was fun sneaking around with these guys. Lauren and Ken were in front of us, laughing about inside jokes about anime and such, while Eli and Christi were both next to me, talking about the uselessness and impracticality of the extremely eloquent architecture of the school's hallways. I kind of stared off into space, but I didn't totally zone out of their conversation. It was humorous to hear just how condescending they were about others.

"You guys would make such a annoying couple," I said, not totally paying attention.

Lauren and Ken gasped and turned around.

"_Who's _a couple?!" the ever so gorgeous, dramatic Lauren said.

"No one, I was making a joke," I said, walking around her.

"Clare has suddenly become very interested in my love life," Eli said, and even though I couldn't see him because I was in front of everyone. My feet started getting mixed up again because of my Mary-Jane's. The principle stressed that since parent's would be here, he wanted us back in out uniforms if we were coming, so I had to change back into my school clothes.

"Oh, my, god, she totally loves you! Why else would she be so curious in who your dating, right Clare?" Lauren ask at a fast pace, linking her arms with mine.

"No," I said continuing to walk with her on my arm.

Eli scoffed behind me, and even though it probably meant nothing to anyone else, I knew exactly what he meant. I whipped myself back around, unlacing myself from Lauren.

"Well I don't," I said.

I could tell everyone was a little shocked by my sudden passion, so I knew I had to cover my tracks, so I crossed my arms and have Eli my classic 'look'.

"Your probably just jealous because I told you you can't look at my butt again," I said.

Everyone started chuckling and gasping, but I just started giggling.

"Oh my god, you love _her_," Lauren said.

"No, I don't," Eli said. I hated that he sounded more convincing than me.

"Well, I'm just saying, maybe you are jealous," she said.

"Wait," Christi jumped in.

"When did you look at her butt?" she asked.

Eli just smirked, his eyes never leaving me.

"Earlier today, when she was changing," he said.

"By accident," I quickly added.

"Nice," Ken said, going in for a fist bump with Eli, but Eli just pushed his hand down, shaking his head.

There was brief moment of silence between all of us, but Eli and I just kept staring at each other.

"I bet their gonna have sex," Christi joked. My attention snapped when she said. I don't know how she could just say that, like sex is no big also stood next to her, laughing.

"No, there's no way I'm loosing my virginity to that freak," I said.

"Wait, your a virgin?" Ken asked.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"Well, what about those pictures that," Ken started, but as soon as he mentioned pictures, I immediately stopped him.

"Shut up!" I yelled. There was a stiff tension between all of us now.

"What pictures?" Eli asked.

Luckily Lauren jumped in. Even though Lauren was known to be a drama queen and a bit of freak, she knew how to be serious and a loyal friend.

"Why are you guys picking on Clare? I was just joking about her and Eli, their just friends, and it's not a big deal if she's a virgin. Lot's of people are. Just leave her alone," she said.

Eventually everyone sort of rolled their eyes, but they all nodded their heads.

"Thank you Lauren," I said.

She just smiled.

"Let's keep walking," Christi said.

We continued to walk down the hall which was coming to a stop.

"Ken, have you ever been in the girls locker room?" Lauren asked, lacing her arms around Ken now.

"No, why?" he asked.

She began drawing on his chest through his shirt with her fingers.

"Because I want to show you a few things in there," she said. She made some sort of signal towards Ken. His eye widened and he smiled, nodding his head.

"Hey guys, I want to check out the French room. I am going to take French next year, and I want to see what the rooms like. I heard it's beautiful," she said, making a quick pace to the stairs.

"Wait, your taking French next year? You haven't taken it yet?" I asked. She giggled and turned back.

"Nope. Guess who's going to summer school," she said, she headed up the stairs.

"Any where you want to go that you haven't seen before?" Eli asked.

I had been to almost every part of the school at this point since my classes were spread across the building, but looking down the next hallway, I could see a room I hadn't gone too yet.

"Yeah, the nurse's room," I said.

Eli stopped and looked at me with obvious confusion on his face.

"The nurse's room?" he asked.

"Yeah, I haven't been in there before," I said.

"What's so special about the nurse's room?" he asked.

"Nothing, I just want to see what it looks like," I said.

"Hm, you know I think there's a bed in there," Christi said from the stair way to the French room.

"Christi!" I yelled.

She just continued up the steps, not listening to me.

"If you want to see it, I'll show you," Eli said, sounding indifferent. Christi was already upstairs and I didn't feel like hanging out with her since she was annoying me, and I didn't want to follow Lauren and Ken. I knew what _they _had planned.

"Sure," I said.

We walked down the hall and into the room. It wasn't really all the special. It was a desk and a few chairs in one room, which had a room adjacent to it that had a single cot, and not much else, beside's file towers and such. I kept walking towards the cot, and Eli turned all the lights on, startling me.

I ran to the light switches and turned the off.

"What if someone see's us in here?" I said.

"Relax Edwards, there no one here," he said, turning them back on.

I rolled my eyes and walked back to cot. I couldn't get those things that Christi kept saying off my mind, or what Lauren said about me liking Eli. I can't say I loved Eli, but I can't quite say I only like him as a friend. The truth is, I've only known him so long, I don't really know what I thing of him.

Eli came back and sat right next to me on the cot.

"You know we were only messing around with you back there," he said.

"I didn't like it," I said, fidgeting with my hair and looking at the ground.

"Clare, why are you so shooken up? Is it about what Ken said?" he asked.

Christi has gotten me so upset that I barely even remembered what Ken had said about those pictures. Those stupid, stupid pictures. Even though that wasn't what was bothering me, I lied.

"Yeah," I said.

"What were those pictures he was talking about?" Eli asked.

My heart stopped for a moment, and I stopped breathing too. I hadn't told anyone about the pictures. Anyone who knew about them only know about them because they saw them, had them, or were told about them. It was the real reason I got sent here. I liked to say it was just drugs, but it wasn't.

I sighed and told him the truth for the first time.

"You know how I told you I used to do drugs?" I said.

"Sure," Eli said.

"Well, a little while ago, I threw a party when my mom went on a vacation with her ex-husband, and it got way out of control," I started. I kept swallowing the lump in my throat, because I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"It went on the whole weekend even though I wanted it to stop after a couple hours. It was horrible. The first night..." I caught my breath and kept going.

"I took a drugs with my friends, and we were all dressed, I guess, kinda skanky. We were just being silly and we didn't think anything of it, but I ended up taking too much, and I did some bad things," I said.

"You don't have to tell me," Eli said. Putting his hand on my knee to console me. I held his hand.

"I didn't have sex though," I added.

"That's good," Eli said.

I turned at looked at his pillow-lips, but tried to ignore this strange sensation I felt. I looked back into his eyes.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" I asked.

He nodded his head in return.

"Have you ever had sex?" I asked.

He looked away.

"You usually don't like talking about sex," he said.

"I don't like talking about casual party sex," I said.

"Sex has to mean something, you know? It just has too..." I said.

Eli nodded.

"I agree," he said.

I waited quietly for his answer, but I didn't get one.

"Did I cross a line?" I asked.

He brought himself back up to my eyes.

"You really want to know the truth?" he asked.

I nodded my head.

"I have had sex... but it didn't always mean anything," he said.

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. He just told me that sex means something, not he's telling me it doesn't?

"You just said that you agree that sex means something," I said.

"And it does," he said, cutting me off.

"It absolutely does. But before I was treated for my bi-polar, I didn't always see it that way. I'd go through episodes, and I would have sex with girls for no reason, and then when I stabilized, I always greatly regretted it," he said.

I bit the inside of my lip. I didn't even know he was capable of that.

"Do you still do that?" I asked.

"No," he said.

We kept staring at each other with hands clasped in the others.

"What's it like to have sex?" I asked, surprising myself. I've always wondered what it was like to have sex. I guess I just never though I would ask someone like Eli about it.

"It feels great, and passionate, and beautiful, but it isn't always perfect," he said.

"I don't want perfect," I said almost immediately. By now it was no secret to me that sex doesn't always work out perfect.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to know what it's like," I said honestly.

"Your just scared to," he said. I nodded my head. He was totally right.

Eli surprised me by laying his hand on my waist, but he took my breath away by intensely kissing me. He close-mouthed kissed me at first, leaning back onto the cot, and slowly slipped his tongue into my breath. I was so taken aback, I didn't know what to do. I sat up straight and separated my lips from his, and slapped him.


	3. The Nurse's Office

I immediately gasped, holding my hand over my mouth. I don't know what I was trying to do, but I certainly wasn't trying to hurt him.

"I am so sorry," I said.

Eli looked utterly shocked, holding his hand up to his face.

"I didn't, I didn't mean to do that," I said.

"Then why did you hit me?" he asked.

"You surprised me," I said. I still was in total shock.

Eli didn't even look me in the eyes.

"I guess I shouldn't have done that," he said.

I slowly lowered my hand down, and I watched Eli. His face was as red as a tomato, and it wasn't because I hit him. I knew he was thoroughly embarrassed.

"I am so sorry," Eli said.

I shook my head.

"It's okay," I said.

Eli still didn't look at me. He tried to push himself off the cot, but I stopped him by putting my hand on his chest. He looked at my hand, and finally up at me.

I didn't really know what to say, but I didn't want him to leave.

"Don't go," was all I had.

"I think I should just leave," Eli said, pushing himself off the cot again.

That feeling in my stomach started rising again, and out of no where, I jumped into his lap and kissed him, ten times more passionately than he kissed me. It was intense, but he pulled back.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

I giggled.

"I told you it's okay," I said.

"This isn't like you," he said.

I ran my hand over his cheek, looking into his beautiful green eyes.

"I want you," I whispered.

I could see through Eli's shirt, his breathing became hectic.

"You just said that sex is serious," he said.

"I just want to know what it's like," I said, slowly beginning to unbutton his shirt.

"Can't you show me?" I asked, whispering into his ear.

Eli didn't answer. He just kind of sat there. I think he was in shock of what was going on.

"Fine, I'll make the first move," I said.

I reached up the back of my shirt, unclasping my bra. I pushed my boobs towards Eli's face on purpose, and I could tell he liked it. I pulled the straps down through the sleeve holes and pulled the bra out from under my shirt. I unbuttoned my shirt, leaving all but one right over my boobs buttoned, and pulled my shirt into a bow on the bottom, so my shirt showed all kind of cleavage but didn't really show anything.

"You won't even take you shirt off?" Eli asked, finally saying something.

"I thought you liked a tease," I said, quoting what he said in a earlier conversation, saying that he would like to be teased someday by a girl.

Eli smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me on top of him on the cot, and kissing me passionately. I broke apart so I could unbutton his shirt. He threw it off and it landed somewhere else. He pulled me back in and started rising his hands up the back of my legs, pulling my skirt up just over my butt. What made this all a little indimitading was that the light was on and there was no covers, but I didn't mind.

"Your right, I do like a tease," he said after pulling apart.

I smiled and knee-walked my way down to his pants. I looked up at him, and I could tell he was just as anxious as I was. I slowly undid his belt, and he lifted his hips and pulled it out from the belt loops. He unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down himself, but he didn't totally take them off.

"I bet you would like to be teased too," he said.

I smirked and looked down. Luckily, his erection was so hard that I could see it poking out from the hole in his underpants, I knew I could get it out.

"Well, you would be wrong," I said.

I reached into his drawers and pulled his length out. I knew I picked a good one. Despite Eli's small size, his penis was quite an amazing size, and while I was a little intimidated by it, all it made me do was want to ride it. I slowly started stroking it.

"You little devil," he murmurerd.

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked.

He looked up at me and down at his length, then back at me again.

"Do you want to ride it?" he asked.

"I don't know how," I said.

He started pulling his boxers down, so I let go of his length.

"I'll show you," he said.

I smirked again, and moved back on top. Even though we were for the most part nude, I don't think we would have stopped to take our clothes off. We wanted each other, and we wanted it now.

Eli pulled me into his chest, so that I was laying on top of him. He used his hand to guide himself towards my center and pull my thong to the side.

"This is going to hurt," he said.

I chuckled.

"Don't worry. I already broke it," I said.

With that, Eli pressed his length right against my center, pushed me against it, but he still wasn't it me. I was pushing on him just enough that I could feel the tiniest sliver of him entering me, and he moved his hand away from it and laid it on my back.

"Push down on it," he said.

I did as he said, but it was a little hard getting him to actually go in, so he used his hand to keep it in place.

When he did, his length was totally still, and I was able to totally sick into his erection, but I didn't go more than half way. It felt strange, but in a good way. I gasped as he entered me. I didn't expect it to feel like this.

"It's okay. Keep going," he said.

I lowered myself onto, totally engulfing him as much as I could. I sat there with him totally in me. It just felt weird. How did people do this?

"Why is there so much pressure?" I asked.

"You haven't had sex. Your still really tight, and I'm a little bit big. It's okay, that's normal. Just keep going. It will feel good, I promise," he said.

I slowly raised my self up again, and lowered again.

It felt like heaven.


	4. Momma Bear

I buttoned my shirt as quickly as I could. More often than not, I get the buttons messed up, but I didn't care. I wanted out of there as soon as possible.

I couldn't believe what I had just done.

I just had sex with Eli in the school nurse's office.

It was hot, like really hot. We eventually stripped all the way down, and it was amazing. We were doing all kinds of positions, and he felt amazing inside me, but it was just wrong. I couldn't believe this was happening. I just had sex with my best friend! I mean, I had slept over at his house before, and we would sleep in the same bed, but it felt the same sleeping in bed with any other friend. He slept next to me, we didn't touch each other, and that was it. We made up inside jokes, I told him about my mom, he knows everything about me and Alli and Jenna falling out, and I just had worthless sex with him just because I was curious. This was clearly the biggest mistake I had ever made.

Once I had my uniform on, I grabbed my stuff and started to leave without saying a thing to Eli, but I knew my uniform wasn't on right, so before I could leave, Eli stopped me.

"Your buttons are weird," he said.

"I don't care," I said.

"Are you okay?" he asked, standing up. He was dressed, but it took him a little longer, and he was still missing his shoes and belt.

I didn't want to tell him truth, but I had too. I had to get it off my chest, because if I didn't, it would always bother me, probably forever.

"What we just did was a mistake," I said.

He actually looked more surprised than I expected him too.

"We just had sex two minutes ago. Clare, I _told you _we shouldn't have done this," he said. He turned away and got frustrated.

I started crying. He was right; he did tell me. I knew he was right, and I knew I would regret it, but I still did it. Nothing that I could say would fix it. He was mad, and he had a right to be. I was stupid. This was all my fault.

"I'm so sorry, Eli. I love you as my friend, and I totally messed it up, I am so sorry," I said. I tried making an exit for the door, but he stopped me again.

"No, I'm sorry. At least let me fix your buttons," he said.

He sat us down on the cot and began to unbutton my shirt again.

"Why did you have sex with me if you were going to regret it?" he asked, almost like he read my mind.

"I don't know. It felt like something just took over me. I couldn't control myself," I said.

He chuckled.

"That's called horniness, and you need to learn to keep a control on it," he said.

I didn't say a thing. I just looked into his beautiful green eyes. I had a feeling in my stomach again, but it wasn't like before. It felt different this time.

I nodded my head.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"I don't want to loose you as a friend," he added.

I took a hard deep breath. I honestly didn't know if being friend with him was even possible after this. I just lost my virginity to him. Am I supposed to act like that never happened?

"Is it even possible for us to be friends?" I asked as he finished buttoning my shirt.

"Yeah, but it's gonna be hard," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

He took a deep sigh, and I could tell in his eyes that it was going to hurt him to say it.

"Because we have to pretend that nothing ever happened," he said, finally looking me in the eyes again.

Tears floated back into my eyes. I could never do that. I could never pretend like Eli doesn't mean anything to me. He took my _virginity, _I can't ignore that.

I shook my head.

"I can't do that. I don't want to do that," I said.

I could see Eli's eyes get glassy as he looked away from me again.

"So is this goodbye?" he asked.

I shook my head again.

"I don't know. I just can't think straight right now... but I know that I will never be able to ignore what just happened between us," I said honestly.

He looked me in the eyes again and pursed his lips.

"Maybe we just need to sleep on it," he said.

Looking into his emerald eyes made it even harder to think. I have no idea how I feel about this man. He's an amazing friend, the best I've ever had, and I don't know if I could handle possibly ruining it with trying to make a relationship work. What if he doesn't even want it to work? What if he doesn't like me like that? I had to stop myself there. I was tired, confused, and sad. I couldn't be thinking straight, especially since I was still waiting for the oxygen to rush to my head after what just happened.

"Your right, I think we need time to just think about it," I said.

He nodded, and I got up a to leave.

I walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind me. I really hoped there were no security cameras, or else they would have caught _everything _that just happened.

"Hey sexy. What happened to your uniform?" Christi asked, walking down the hallway.

Oh God, not her. I love Christi, but after what just happened, I didn't feel like talking to anyone, especially Christi.

The longer I didn't answer her, the more annoyed she looked.

"I just got a little more comfortable," I said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

She looked around the hallway with an eyebrow cocked.

"Where's Eli?" she asked.

"He's still in the nurses office," I said, flustered.

"Oooh, you guys did something bad!" she said, almost like she could totally see right through me.

I could feel my cheeks get red and hot, and tears starting swelling my eyes up again, making my head spin.

I could see the goofy, funny look on Christi's face suddenly fade away, and my heart stopped, realizing she probably has an idea of what just happened.

"What happened?" she asked, suddenly concerned and touching my arm for support.

"We had sex," I whispered after a few shaky breaths.

Christi's jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

"Oh my God Clare, how could you?" she asked.

I shook my head in disbelief.

How could _I? She _was the group whore.

"You kept making jokes about it," I said.

Christi started shaking her head, almost like she didn't want to head what I had to say.

"I thought you would have been _happy _that I did it," I said, throwing her arm off me and walking away.

"I never meant it like that!" Christi said behind me.

"Then how did you mean it?" I asked, but I didn't turn or stop to listen. I just kept walking.

I didn't wait for Lauren or Ken. I didn't wait for Christi, I didn't even wait for Eli. I just got in my car and went home, assuming Eli would get ride with Ken.

When I walked through the door of my house, I tried desperately to not look my mom in the eye, but she was right there in the doorway when I came in.

"How was it?" my mom asked.

I froze, not understanding at all what she meant by that.

"Clare?" she asked.

"How was what?" I asked.

"The concert," she said. She pinned her eyes on me and squinted them, like she was looking for Waldo or something.

"It was fine," I said, and hurried upstairs, pushing past my mother.

"Clare!" she yelled. I knew she probably thought I was being rude, but I just had to get upstairs. As soon as I got to my bedroom, I collapsed on my bed, unable to control myself. I dug my head into my pillow and cried. I didn't care if my mom could here, I just let it all out. I needed to. It felt therapeutic almost, but not enough to actually make me feel better.

After a few moments, I heard a knocking at my door. I sat up and tried to control myself, which was surprisingly easy.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened and my mother came in and closed the door without saying a word. She sat down next to me and put her hand on my knee, the same way Eli had.

"What happened?" she asked.

Me and my mother have a very strange, strained relationship. It was hard to talk to her a lot of the time, because she is just so hard to talk to sometimes. There was something in her voice though, that just made me feel like she was genuinely interested in what happened. Either way, I could not tell her what I did.

"I can't tell you," I said, not looking her in the eye.

"Why not?" she asked almost immediately.

"Because you'll be mad at me," I said, honestly.

"And I really don't want you to be mad at me," I said. Tears came rushing to my eyes, and I couldn't stop it anymore. I grabbed my pillow and and held it into my lap, crying into it. I hit my breaking point, and I couldn't hold it back anymore.

My mom just sat there and rubbed my back, letting me cry. It was just me crying for a good couple of minutes.

"Let me ask you again. What happened?" she asked.

"I won't get mad at you," she added.

For the first time in my life, I believed her.

I slowly rose up, and looked my mom in the eye.

It took me a while to get it out, but I finally did.

"I had sex with Eli," I said.

My whole body stopped working as I waited for her reply.

Her eye's widened slightly, and her mouth opened a little, then her face went back to normal.

"I didn't know you were having sex," she said.

I shook my head.

"I'm not," I said.

She looked at me with confusion.

"It was my first time," I said.

Tears escaped from my eyes again. I shook my head again and my voice got shaky.

"It meant nothing," I said.

I could see a look of depression in my mom's eyes, and I knew she felt my pain.

"It was my first time and it meant nothing," I cried, and she held me in her arms, slowly rocking me back and forth.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" I cried into her arm.

She sighed.

"Oh, Clare... I think it's time we quit lying to ourselves. I like to pretend that teenagers have sex... but I know they do. Even if I don't like that, it's not my choice. I don't get to decide when people are ready to have sex. I can't choose whether or not they have sex. I do wish that I could have chosen for you to not have sex though," she said.

"I wish you would have too," I said.

She held me for a few minutes, before speaking up again.

"Do you want to go to school tomorrow?" she asked.

"No!" I said immediately.

"Okay. I'll let you have a couple days off," she said.

She pulled back and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Are you gonna be okay?" she asked.

I nodded my head, hoping it was true, that I would be okay.

She gave a sad little smile, and kissed my head before walking out of my room.

I sighed and laid back into my bed.


	5. The Pub

_Helen's POV_

My head was pounding from the sunlight. I had to work a double shift last night, and before I left, Clare told me everything that happened with her and Eli. The whole thing made me feel sick to my stomach. I just don't want Clare to end up like me.

As I poured some tea for the two of us, I heard a knock on the door. I knew that would be Eli and Lauren, picking her up for school.

_Eli's POV_

My hands shook as I waited for the door to open. I honestly didn't know if it was a good idea to just casually pick Clare up with all our friends, but I figured it was best to make things as normal as possible.

To my surprise though, Clare didn't answer the door… it was her mom. I stood frozen, and I really hoped that Helen had no idea.

"Hello Eli, Clare is not going to school today," Helen sighed.

I was surprised to hear that. I knew Clare wasn't sick, so I must have really hurtened her if she didn't even want to face me. I couldn't let her mom know that though.

"Is she okay?" I asked, trying to seem as normal as possible.

"She's just not feeling very good after last night," Helen said.

My heart immediately stopped, and I instantly wanted to know what she meant by that.

"What happened last night?" I asked.

Helen looked annoyed and sighed out heavily again.

"You know what happened last night," she said.

Oh God, _did _he know? Did Clare tell her? No, there was no way Clare would have told her mom. She can't stand her mom. She _hates _her mom. How could she just turn around and tell her mom?

"You took her virginity," she said finally. I felt like I was going to puke. She really _did_ know.

My hands started shaking, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see Clare crawl down the stairs and take a seat on one of the steps, but she didn't look at me.

"She told you," I said to her mom. She nodded her head.

"Yes, she told me," she said.

Clare looked at me for a split second, but when I looked at her, she looked away.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to school?" I asked her.

Clare didn't respond. She just kept looking away.

Helen turned from her daughter, back to me.

"I think its best that you just go," Helen said.

"Even if she feels physically fine, I don't think she should be around you right now," Helen said.

I nodded my head. I could see why she would think that.

"I understand," I said, and I walked to the car. We left for school, but I never stopped thinking about her all day.

_Clare's POV_

I lay in my bed and flipped through some TV. It was all trashy teenage stuff, but it was all that was on. I considered putting a DVD in from my collection, but being the lazy slob I am, I decided it wasn't worth getting up for.

When I first woke up, I felt like I wanted to die, especially since I now knew that my mom knew the truth, since I told her. Later on during the day, I told myself that I had to quit throwing myself a pity party and put on some big girl pants and just talk to Eli tomorrow. There will still times that I felt a strong pinge of regret, but I had to ignore it. It's how I would get over it.

There was a ring from my doorbell.

I really hoped it wasn't Eli. He texted me earlier and asked if he should come by and talk to me, but I told him not too. I just wanted a day off.

Eli, however, doesn't always like to listen to rules.

I sloped down stairs and took a deep breath before opening the door.

Luckily, it wasn't Eli. It was Lauren.

I was honestly happy to see her, and happy to not see Eli.

"I heard you were sick, so I brought some homemade chicken noodle soup, some healing tea, and some eye-pad my mom says is very therapeutic," Lauren said as soon as I opened the door. She came from a family that would never even touch something if it wasn't natural, organic, and vegan.

I just smiled.

"I'm not really sick," I said.

"And I didn't really bring any of that stuff because I know you're not sick," she said.

I shook my head at her. Lauren could be so weird at times.

"So you are hiding from someone," she said. I closed the door as she walked in. I leaned against the door.

"I am," I said.

"Knew it," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Want some tea?" I asked, pointing to the bar next to us that my mom and I used for coffees and teas.

"Sure, but only if we talk about why you're _really _home from school," Lauren said.

In the short time I've known Lauren, I've come to learn that she is really honest and trustworthy, so even though I've only know her for some time, I knew I could trust her.

I made us some tea and we sat on my living room couch, me in my PJs, her in her school uniform.

"So why are you home from school?" Lauren asked.

I sighed, because no matter who I talked to, I knew it would be hard to talk about.

"You know last night when you and Ken went to the locker room and I and Eli went to the nurse's office?" I asked.

Lauren immediately looked uncomfortable, but she let me continue.

"Yes," she said.

"Well… when we went there, we…" I took a minute to gather my thoughts.

"We had sex with the nurse's office," I said.

Laurens eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped.

I waited for her reaction.

She sat her tea on the coffee table and began talking.

"Ken and I… we had sex in the locker room," she said.

I looked at her like she was an idiot, but I honestly thought that we were both idiots. All we needed was a Freddie, and we had a campy teenage horror film.

We looked at each other with the same shocked face, and we both knew in our bones how awkward it was.

"What is wrong with us?" I asked.

Lauren picked her tea back up.

"I know. Were total idiot," she said. I saw tears rush to Laurens eyes.

"Wait, what happened with you and Ken?" I asked.

Lauren shrugged.

"He hasn't talked to me. I honestly think he doesn't even care about me anymore," she said.

That statement made fear course through my veins. What if Eli doesn't talk to me ever again? What if he stops caring about me?

Lauren stayed over for _hours _since it was a Friday, and after she left, I ran upstairs to text Eli. I wanted to wait 'till she was gone, because honestly, sometimes a girl needs to be comforted by her best friend. I saw that Eli had already texted me ten minutes ago.

_**Eli: hey, me & some friend's r going 2 the chicken wing place we love. Do u want 2 meet up there, & talk?**_

_**Clare: ya, ill b there. Will Ken b there?**_

_**Eli: no, y?**_

_**Clare: bcuz I want 2 invite L, but not if Ken will b there.**_

_**Eli: y not?**_

_**Clare: they had sex last night, and he hasn't talked 2 her since.**_

I waited to see Eli's reaction to that. This would test our relationship.

_**Eli: o. well u can invite her. He wont b there.**_

_**Clare: ok.**_

So much for that. I started getting, and I heard another sound from my phone.

_**Eli: & clare?**_

_**Clare: ya?**_

_**Eli: I promise I wont let that happen.**_

I smiled and my heart started beating a little harder.

_**Clare: thank u eli.**_

_At the pub…_

Lauren and I walked into the pub. I was so nervous, and I knew that because I was nervous, then so was Lauren.

"Are you okay?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah, just feeling like I'm going to die," I said.

"It'll be okay," Lauren said.

I nodded my head, and from the other side of the room, I saw Eli get up from his chair at the big group of people and walk over here.

"God, here he comes," I said.

Lauren had her back turned to him, so she couldn't see him.

"Remember, stand your ground, your allowed to be mad, and… good luck," she said, recapping a earlier conversation we had on the way over here.

"At least he wants to talk to you," she added.

I felt another emotional ping, this time it was of utter sadness, because I knew she had to be in a lot of pain. She started walking to the table, and Eli came up.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said.

"Do you want to sit at the bar?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I do," I said. I honestly just didn't want to be around his obnoxious friends.

We started walking to the bar. He put his arm around me as we walked up, and over my shoulder, I could see Lauren smiling as she went to talk to her friends. When she saw me, she looked happy, but honestly, Eli put's his arm around me all the time.

I sat on the seat next to his. We ordered some drinks and wings, and then we started talking.

"This isn't the place I really wanted to bring you talk about all this," Eli said.

"I know, I just… I needed some time to myself," I said.

Eli nodded his head.

"I understand," he said.

There was an awkward silent moment, and I wished that I could just die.

"So um… what now?" I asked.

"Well, I guess we need to decide where we stand," Eli said.

I honestly loved having Eli as a friend, because he was a great friend to me, but I don't know if I could handle having to pretend like nothing happened. I also considered being his girlfriend, but that also seemed like too much right now. Besides, what if he doesn't want to be with me?

"I don't know," I said.

Eli sighed. It seemed like he was getting frustrated again, but I didn't care.

I'd been frustrated all day.

"I just… I wish we could go back to being friends before this ever happened," Eli said.

I was sick of hearing him say that. It was like he was trying to get off scot-free. I thought about what Lauren told me before I talked to him, and I decided, 'I'm allowed to be mad'.

"Yeah, I bet you would love that. That way you could pretend that nothing ever happened. You could pretend that these feelings we have for each other never existed, and you could get off scot-free and live your life, and never have to worry about me again," I said.

Eli's eyes were full of fear and confusion, but I knew it was just an act.

"Well I'll tell you what; I will _never _be able to do that. I will _never _be able to pretend like you didn't take my virginity, because it just meant too much to me," I said.

I stormed out, and Lauren followed.

I left Eli sitting there, with a look of confusion on his face.


	6. Decision Time

"You should totally where these heal with that outfit," Lauren said.

She held up two big red shiny platform heels. That coupled with my black tank top and purple shorts, it would not only clash, but look ridiculous.

I scoffed.

"Never in a million years," had I said. Lauren just rolled her eyes.

We were getting ready for car wash. Some girl at school mentioned holding a car wash, but the school said there was no place to hold it. The parking lot for a private prep Christian school is very small, believe it or not. Eli had dared me to volunteer my house, since it had a big yard and parking area. It _was _a bit distant from all the other houses. I did it as a joke, but everyone took it seriously. I figure, eh, I don't mind getting wet, and it made my mom mad, so who cares?

Of course, after how sweet my mom was to me and how she was completely understanding and not mad when I told her about me and Eli, I felt totally horrible for this.

I turned to see my mom walking out of the side door and ran to her to tell her what I should have said before.

"Mom," I caught her attention.

She focused herself on me.

"I just wanted to apologize for this. I never really apologized for volunteering our house as the car wash area, and I'm really sorry," I said.

My mom held me in for a side-hug.

"It's okay. It might be fun. I had a lot more fun planning it then I thought I would," she said.

That I knew. She was constantly looking up recipe's and craft ideas for everyone who would come by, and looked for activities the volunteers could do if there weren't any car's to wash. She _did _have a lot of fun planning this.

"Thank mom," I said.

"Listen," my mom said, pulling me in tighter. Dammit, it was a trap.

"Is Eli going to be here?" she asked.

Eli did promise to do the car wash with me, and he said he needed to get his car washed too, so I wouldn't doubt it. We hadn't talked since last night at the pub though.

"I'm not sure," I said.

"Because he called and asked to be taken off as a volunteer," my mom continued.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god," I said.

"But I want to make sure he won't come around again," my mom explained.

Ouch. That seemed harsh.

"Well, would it be so bad if he did? I may not want to work with him, but if he dropped by, it might be a good thing. We could talk. That's what we really need to do," I said.

I could tell my mom was disappointed by that answer.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

I nodded my head. I was.

"Alright," my mom sighed.

I walked back over to Lauren.

"What was all that about?" Lauren asked.

I looked at my mom, and then turned back to Lauren.

"She was asking me about Eli," I said.

I felt a searing pain on my right arm, and I realized Lauren had hit me.

"Does she know?" Lauren asked.

I felt a little awkward telling her the truth. I mean, come on, I told my mom I had sex with Eli!

Still, I nodded my head, because Lauren was my best friend.

"Why would you tell her that?!" Lauren asked.

I shrugged.

"She saw me upset… she wasn't mad," I said. I didn't want to go into detail. It was not an easy think to talk about.

Lauren chuckled.

"You are out of your mind Clare. Sometimes I think you need to get like, evaluated and find out what wrong with you," she said.

I just smiled and shook my head.

Later on that day, the car wash was starting to wrap up. It was a very busy day. A lot of parent's came by to wash cars, and the volunteers were working hard. We had a few cars left to wash, and we would be done.

As I finished cleaning of a red sports car, I saw a black, dirty come up and into out yard.

_Oh God._

_Eli._

I immediately ran over to the car. He didn't stop driving until I met with him. He already had his window rolled down, so I just went to his door.

"These are the last few cars we have to do. We're not taking any more people," I said. I didn't mind sounding harsh. I was tired, and he didn't wait until the last minute to show up. He didn't even think about coming to see me before now.

"Come on, it's just one more car, besides, I told you I needed it cleaned," Eli chuckled. I looked at his car covered in dirt and mud, and he was right. It looked like shit.

I angrily sighed out, and I could feel a head ache coming on.

"Fine," I spat out.

He drove his car into the next spot. One of the volunteers, Anastasia I think her name was, spoke up.

"I thought _these _were the last cars we had to do. Who's _this?" _she asked.

"One more person," I simply said, bending down to wet my wash cloth even more in the tub of water.

"That's not fair. I'm not washing his car, I'm coming home after these," she said.

I honestly didn't want to deal with her bitchiness, not right now.

"Fine, then go home. Anyone who really doesn't want to wash his car can go home, but we've been washing cars all day, so if you want too, then fine, but if you're going to throw a fit about it, then go home," I yelled.

She rolled her eyes and continued cleaning the blue car she was working on.

I turned to Lauren and she had a look on her face that obviously meant she was mad.

"What?" I asked, ringing my wash cloth.

"What is he doing here?" she asked.

I could hear Eli's door open and close as he climbed out of his car. Now that he was out of the car, I couldn't just say it. I could feel him walk up behind me, and I rolled my eyes. I felt totally awkward around him.

"You can go stand over there," I said, pointing to a random table.

"Okay," Eli said. He was behind me still, so I couldn't see him, but I could hear an awkwardness and sadness in his voice. I shook it off though, and started to clean the piles of mud off his stupid vintage car. Some other volunteers gathered and helped me. We were only a couple minutes in when Lauren spoke up.

"Oh God," she said, looking up in the direction I sent Eli in. She stopped her work.

I turned to see Anastasia _flirting_ with Eli. She was _flirting _with him. Everyone at school knew Anastasia as The Flirt. She didn't sleep with guys or anything, she wasn't a whore, but she constantly had a new boyfriend from week to week, and now, she was _flirting_ with Eli.

This wasn't just a guess or speculation, this was hard core flirting, and she pressed her chest out and swung her body around while she played with her hair and smiled big. Anastasia could bull shit her way through any conversation about any topic. It was sick.

The worst part was that it looked like… he liked it?

He was smiling and talking to her. He seemed excited about what they were talking about. He acted like she had possibly brought up some great idea or something he had never thought about, and she played the whole 'who would have known I was a genius?' act. She was overly enthusiastic about everything.

That fake _bitch_.

I turned to Lauren, steaming mad, and breathing like a bull.

"Get me those shoes," I said.

Lauren looked skeptical.

"I don't think that a good idea," she said.

I turned over to Eli, and watched as Anastasia lifted his arm and wrapped it around her.

Anastasia noticed me staring, and I could see her chuckled as she stared at me. She looked up and said something to him, and now they were both looking at me.

Eli looked like he was guilty… which he was! Flirting with another girl in front of me?!

He looked away and inched himself away from her, but Anastasia wrapped her arm around his waist. She said something else to him, and pulled him back in. I could tell Eli didn't like it, but he didn't stop her. He didn't say no. He _let _her.

I turned back to Lauren, but she was gone. I looked at the table and she was holding up the pair of shoes.

"Get that bitch back," Lauren said. She hated Anastasia just as much as I hated her, probably because they were both cheerleaders.

I sat on a bench and strapped on my high heels. It would be a lie if I said that I had experience with heels, but still, I could manage my way around. Luckily we were on the concrete of my driveway, and not in the now mushy-yard.

I stepped onto the concrete, and I won't lie, I felt pretty sexy. I didn't turn to see if Eli was looking at me or not. Even if it didn't make him love me, it made _me _feel confident and sexy, which gave me the boost I needed. I kept cleaning the car, but it was a few minutes before he came over with Anastasia by his side.

"How's it going?" Eli asked.

"Fine. She should be clean… eventually," looking at the amount of mud on the car.

Eli chuckled and scratched his head.

"Yeah, I guess I dirtied her up, didn't I?" Eli asked.

Lauren started cracking up on the other side. I knew what she was laughing at, but Eli didn't seem to know.

Everyone ignored her and changed back to the original conversation.

Anastasia jokingly punched Eli in the arm.

"Goldsworthy, you silly goose! What did you do to get it this dirty?" she asked.

I hurt to see Anastasia joke with Eli like that. Oh God, maybe this was it. Maybe this was the scene in movies where I realize how much I like him, but it's too late… I let my disappointment show, but I shrugged it off. They had only been flirting for a few minutes, although I had seen them flirting before.

I think Eli saw how uncomfortable I was, because he looked sad.

"I went mudding," Eli said.

I rolled my eyes. Of course.

"You went mudding, and then you brought it here, to a car wash ran by teenagers at my house?" I asked.

Anastasia ran her fingers over Eli's shoulder, and I looked down at her fingers, confused.

"Well I think it's cool. Say, maybe sometime I could go with you," she said.

Eli met her eyes.

"I wouldn't think a girl like you would like to go mudding," Eli said.

Of course. A girl like _her._ With the cheerleader body, the cool car, the rich parents, and all the cool friends. I ignored them and continued washing the car.

There was bit of silence.

"Anastasia, would you mind letting me and Clare talk?" he asked.

I turned back and saw Anastasia give me a stink eye.

"Why?" she asked, taking a sip of water from her bottle.

"Because I asked nicely," Eli said with his classic Eli charm, but it wasn't working on her.

She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever Goldsworthy," she said before she stomped away. I threw my washcloth down on the car.

"Wow, two days after we have sex, and now you have a new girlfriend," I said.

"Clare, I barely even talked to her 'till today. She came up to me, I was trying to get rid of her," he said.

I didn't say anything. I just didn't believe him. I bit the inside of my lip and rolled my eyes. I hid any tears I had and continued working on his stupid shitty car.

"Clare you've been ignoring me. I've tried calling, I've tried texting, but you won't answer," Eli said.

"I wonder why," I said. I kept cleaning the car.

"You can't just ignore me," Eli said.

I heard a car window open behind us.

"Hey, do you guys mind keeping your relationship business elsewhere?" some mom asked.

It was awkward and annoying, her yelling out like that, but she was a customer, so Eli left and sad on the bench in front of the car.

One hour later, everyone else had left. The volunteers decided they didn't want to stay and help me. There were no customers left, and my mom left half an hour ago to get to work. It was just me and Eli, and it had been for about fifteen minutes. This was ridiculous. I had to clean the dirtiest car in the world by myself.

"You are going to pay me extra for this?" I asked.

Eli smirked and walked up to me.

"It's okay; you don't have to finish washing. I can take it to a professional," he said. He stood next to me and I threw my dirty washcloth at him.

"Why didn't you take it to a professional in the first place?" I asked.

"Because I wanted to see you," Eli said. Eli was _always _brutally honest, even in these weird, special circumstances.

My heart sank just a little deeper. I leaned against his wet car.

"Why?" I asked.

He leaned on the car next to me.

"Because you've been ignoring me, and that hurts," he said.

I knew I was being cruel. I guess I just wanted to put off talking to him, at least until I could decided how I feel about him… but I guess I knew I felt about him anyway.

"I'm sorry," I said.

We sat in complete silence for a moment.

"It's okay," he said, tossing the wash cloth into the tub of water.

It was silent again. _God _it was tense.

"You haven't really spoken to me today. You tried once, but that was it," I said.

"I said… I wanted to _see _you. You're the one who doesn't want to talk," he said.

My soul felt drearier.

"I just don't know what to say," I said.

"Then I'll make it easy," he started.

"If you want to pretend like I don't exist, then fine. I've gotten over girls before, I can get over you. If you want to try and be friends, then great," he paused for the next part.

"If you want to try and make a relationship work, then okay. I mean… that's what I want," he said.

My head whipped around to look at him. I never expected those words to come out of his mouth.

"But understand if you don't want that," he said.

He paused again.

"But I need to know, because I deserve to know. I deserve to know if you care about me enough or not," he said. He still didn't look me in the eye.

Like I said, I guess I knew how I felt about him.

I pushed myself off the car and placed myself in front of him. I placed my hand on his chest and he looked at me with those green eyes that could kill. Before either of us said anything, I kissed him. I tried to be gentle and slow. His hands moved around my waist, and he pulled me in gently.

I broke apart.

"I love you Eli," I said.

"I love you too," he said.

I smiled and leaned back into the kiss. At first it was slow, but I could feel much more passion than that, and most of it was coming from Eli. He slowly added more passion, like that 'Make out King' he once claimed he was.

Hey, maybe he was.

The cool but warm air hitting my wet body made shiver a bit, and Eli pulled me in closer. The fact that we were out in the open and that anyone driving by could see us… I don't know. I guess it turned me on.

I reciprocated all the passion he gave me, and it got hot, really fast. It was super intense, and soon he had me pressed against the car with my leg, still with a stiletto on, wrapped around his waist. He pushed himself onto me, and it was crazy how much I liked this.

A big semi-truck rolled by on the road below us, and it threw me off. I leaned out of the kiss and looked around to make sure there wasn't really anyone there. Eli chuckled.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere else," Eli said. He brought himself closer to me, pressed his forehead against mine.

"Like my car?" he said in a deeper, sexier voice.

"That's stupid, my house is right there," I said.

"Yeah, but it would be so much sexier in the car," Eli said.

I bit my lip, and Eli opened his car door.

_**One Hour Later**_

The blanket on top of us kept us warm. We were recovering from the crazy make out session we had just had. Eventually we stripped down quite a bit. We only took off all our wet clothes, which were basically all my clothes except my underpants, and Eli's shirt.

I laid with my head on his chest. I laid mostly on my side though, since my legs wouldn't fit on the front seat. I curled into a bit of a fetal position on top of his body.

He had turned the car on, and put on some music and turned the heat up a little bit.

I felt like I could fall asleep right then and there, but… Oh, imagine sweet Eli having to drag in a naked sleeping me into the house in the middle of the night.

"Eli?" I asked.

"Yes?" he responded.

I tapped my fingers on his chest in a beat only I could hear.

"Are we a couple?" I asked.

I knew it was sudden and quick, but I wasn't going to let things happen like they did last time.

"Of course," Eli said.

I smiled, but on the inside, I was jumping up and down like a little girl.

"Good," I said.

I looked up at Eli's sweet eyes.

"You know I don't want to have sex again for a while, right?" I asked.

He chuckled.

"I think that's a good idea," he said.

I smiled.

"But I like doing stuff like this," I said.

He ran his finger through my hair.

"Really? You're not going to regret making out with me in my car nearly naked?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Never," I said.

He smiled a little as he kept playing with my curls.

"Good," he repeated my words.

We looked at each other for a little while before speaking up.

"Do you want to stay the night?" I asked.

Eli scoffed.

"Won't your mom _hate _that?" he asked.

I smirked.

"No. She won't mind," I said.

"I hardly believe that," he said.

"Oh come on, trust me. It'll be nice. We can watch movies and eat popcorn and just fall asleep," I said.

"We have school tomorrow," he said.

"You can leave early," I said immediately.

He sighed and smiled.

"I don't have anything to sleep in," he said.

I blushed at the thought of him sleeping naked next to me.

"You don't _need _anything to sleep in. Besides, what more do you need than a t-shirt and underpants?" I asked.

Eli looked defeated, like he didn't want to admit that… _I won._

"Fine," he said.

Luckily, my mom wasn't mad when she found us sleeping together in the morning.

* * *

_**Reviews would be GREATLY appreciated :)**_


	7. The Selfie

_**Eli's POV**_

I slumped myself against the lockers. I was waiting for Clare to show up. She was running oddly late. She usually liked to get to school extra-early so she could have breakfast and walk around campus before having to go to class, she said it wakes her up, but class started in ten minutes, and she was still nowhere to be found. The last I texted her, she said she would be here soon, so I just trusted she would. I figured, eh, I'll just kill some time with Ken. That's whose locker I was slumped up against.

"Have you seen Clare or Lauren?" I asked.

Ken peered at me past his locker door, looking like an idiot, which, he normally does.

"Uh, no," he chuckled.

"I haven't seen them since that night we snuck around, and we uh..." he poked his elbow at me, like it was some sort of inside joke.

"We uh, hit it," he laughed.

Yep, like I said. An idiot.

"What's so funny about that?" I asked, chuckling because of how goofy he was.

Ken shrugged.

"Nothing, it's just... I don't know, Lauren has been bugging me, and I'm sure Clare has been bugging you too," Ken asked.

My inner body temperature started rising. Ever since I told him about me and Clare, and he told me about him and Lauren, he just keeps bragging about it, and he's been acting like a player. It was really annoying how he assumed that me and Clare weren't talking, or to hear him go on and on about his one-night stand with Lauren.

"She hasn't been bugging me," I said honestly.

"Hey man, you're lucky, Lauren won't stop texting me or calling me. I wish she would just get the hint. Maybe I should have had sex with Clare," Ken said.

Okay, that was it. That was truly it. Telling me that he would rather have sex with Clare because she would be less of a hassle then Lauren... I could taste the blood from my back molars digging into my gums.

"Why would you want to have sex with my girlfriend?" I asked.

Ken slowly turned his head towards me, and after a moment of staring at me, he started laughing. Like, hard.

"Wait, your her boyfriend? I thought it was a one-night stand, man!" he said, shrugging me.

I didn't let my body go with it though. I took a few steps away from him, and he realizing that he wasn't being funny, or that I at least didn't take it that way.

"I never said she was a one night stand," I said.

Ken scoffed, and acted like he was going to size me up.

"What's your problem man?" he asked.

"My problem, is that you've been treating Lauren like trash, and now you're making jokes about having sex with my girlfriend," I said, my voice slightly louder.

I could tell he was truly pissed of now, just by the look of actual hate and anger on his face.

"First of all, I didn't know that suddenly you had feeling for Clare. Second of all, what does my relationship with Lauren have to do with you?" Ken asked, stepping into my personal space.

This guy was going to get punched if he didn't back off.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me. I don't care what you and Lauren do, but you obviously care that everyone knows. You never shut up about that one night! You've bragged about it to _all _your jock friends, who would probably ditch you in hot second by the way. Your letting everyone think that she is the slut, but you're not telling anyone about how you've been treating her. I don't care about you and Lauren, so leave your trashy attitude behind, or at least keep it away from me!" I said, gradually getting louder.

Everyone in the hall way was staring at us. Ken didn't pay attention to them, but as I looked around, I realized that everyone was staring, and everyone was waiting to see what would happen next.

Ken just looked at me and smirked.

"Well if you're on Laurens side now, then I'll just treat you the same way. If you _ever _try to talk to me again, I'll ignore you," Ken said.

Inside, I was half laughing my ass off, half questioning why he thought that I would care.

"I would never try to contact you again," I said.

"Good," he snapped back at me.

He started walking away slowly, but looked behind me at something as he walked backwards.

"I hope you two are very happy together," he said.

I knew he was talking to someone, so I turned to see who it was, and there, linked arms and everything, was Clare and Lauren.

Lauren just looked at the ground in front of her, in utter shock and sadness, and Clare looked at me with a look, almost as if to say 'what the fuck is going on?'

I looked back up to Ken, and I watched as he continued walking away, only normal. I felt like I was missing something, and then I remembered what I wanted to tell him.

"Oh, and Ken?" I asked.

"Yeah," he simply said, turning around and stopping.

"It's not that I'm suddenly on Lauren's side. It's that I was _never _on your side," I said.

Ken said nothing as he turned around and kept walking, but I could tell on his face that it really bothered him.

_**That Night**_

I flipped through one of Clare's girl magazine while under her sheets. Today was a hard day. Lauren was totally upset about what happened in the hallway, especially since she knows now that Ken was telling all his friends about their night together. She kept saying that Clare and I were the lucky ones. I wasn't sure what she meant by that. Because she was so upset, Clare spent almost all day with her, but she promised me that we would hang out tonight, so that's what we're doing. She hauled me up to her bedroom, and we watched TV, watched videos on her computer, all while snuggling in her bed. I had a feeling that this was what she did on a normal day without me as well.

Right now, I was flipping through one of her girl magazines, and she was on her computer.

I continued flipping and flipping, flipping and flipping, until out of the corner of my eye, I could tell she was really looking at me, so I raised my head to look at her.

"What?" I asked.

She had big cheesy grin on her face, and I watched as she slowly reached over and grabbed her phone.

"Let's take a picture together," Clare said.

I chuckled, thinking about the ridiculousness that is taking a selfie. Every girl who does that always looks cheesy and fake.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, just one," Clare said.

She did the whole puppy-eye thing, and she shrugged her shoulders up and ever so slightly puffed her bottom lip up. She knew I _hated _when she did that, because she would always get her way. Even before we were dating, she would do that, and it would kill me, and she'd always get what she wanted.

I closed her magazine and sighed. I kept staring at her as I did it. I let my dissatisfaction show, but she smiled and pushed her computer to the side. She pulled up the camera app on her iPhone, and she scooted in towards me.

She pulled my arm, making me get up.

"Come here, you have to actually be in the picture," she said.

I don't know why I followed her directions. I knew I wouldn't get sex out of it. I wouldn't get _anything _out of it. Still, I wrapped my arm around her, and looked up at the camera. I didn't smile like she was, but after she snapped the picture and looked at it, she smiled.

"This is perfect," she said.

Her eyes were bright blue, and her black tank top hung on her just right. It was just a normal selfie, but she didn't look too fake in it, so I agreed.

She turned her head to me, and placed her forehead against mine.

"Thank you," she said. She gave me a peck on the lips before turning back to her phone.

I watched as she pulled up her Face Book app and uploaded the photo, tagged me in it, cropped it, and set it as her profile picture. Right away, Lauren liked it, and so did Christi. All I knew was that Clare and Christi were in some sort of a tuff, but I wasn't going to ask her about it, since it wasn't that big of a deal.

Clare turned to put her phone on the table, and I wrapped my arms around her waist since half her body was off the bed. She giggled against it.

"Look who's getting grabby," she said.

I tugged her down back onto the bed and she giggled even more. I cupper her cheek and kissed her plump pink lips, and we began another intense make out session.

_**The Next Morning**_

_**Clare's POV**_

My alarm clock buzzed of beside my head. Half asleep, I turned it off, and began stretching my body, trying to wake myself. I honestly did have a good sleep. Having Eli over always made me feel better, and it made me sleep easier. He left shortly after we made out, saying he had to do homework. I did too, but right after that, I was so tired from yesterday, I fell asleep pretty quickly.

I slowly rolled my sleepy body to its side, and pulled out my phone, which was still on the table next to my bed. There were a lot of people who commented on my photo, which I was surprised about, but what caught my eye was a text from Eli, which was in all caps.

**Eli: U NEED 2 TAKE THAT PICTURE DOWN**

It hurt to see this, my boyfriend telling me to take a picture of us together off my Face Book. Was he ashamed to see it? Was he hiding me from someone? I didn't understand, it was a cute picture!

**Clare: y?**

I got up and walked into my bathroom and started combing my hair, afraid of what Eli might have to say, that he doesn't want my picture with him to be seen. Soon, my phone started ringing that he had texted me back, so I ran to grab it.

**Eli: Ken attacked it**

That didn't make any sense. He 'attacked it'? What does that mean? How can you attack a picture?

**Clare: what?**

I grabbed my uniform white button up shirt and began buttoning it, when I got another ring from my phone.

**Eli: just don't read the comments. just delete it.**

The comments, that's right.

I clicked on my Face Book app, and then clicked my notifications. I have _39. _39 comments on my picture.

I didn't read all of them, but I gasped in horror at the ones I did.

_**Jourdain: It looks like they just got done having sex.**_

_**Violet: Hey Asher, do you think I'm as big a slut as her?**_

_**Charlotte: Doesn't she have any decency?**_

_**Ken: Hey Jourdain, I bet they did. Eli told me all about them having sex in the NURSE'S OFFICE!**_

_**Asher: No Violet, you have much more respect for yourself.**_

_**Silas: Ken, didn't you have sex with Lauren in the girls locker room? They aren't doing anythig wrong, it's just a picture! Their sex life is their own business!**_

_**Nora: Silas, look at her, her boobs are practically out of her shirt!**_

_**Archer: I didn't know Clare was so easy, I wonder if Eli would mind me taking her out for a spin.**_

_**Sadie: Ew, don't do that, you'll probably get some type of herpes/HPV/gonorrhea mixture!**_

_**Ivy: Ew, look at her! She's going to go to hell if she really did have sex with him.**_

* * *

_**Please review! I'm not normally one to pry for review, but this is chapter 7 and I only have 3 reviews. Neither of my EClare storied have gotten a lot of reviews, so please, review!**_


	8. One More Time

I slowly took big steps up to my locker where Eli was waiting for me. The whole way here, I tried desperately not to look anyone in the eyes. A _lot _of people commented on my picture. It was ridiculous. I didn't see why it was such a big deal. I mean, I didn't care about people not liking me. In this school, I was the odd one out. I wasn't Christian like everyone else, I dressed a little darker then everyone, whatever. I've dealt with people not liking me my whole life, but the fact that Ken told everyone about me and Eli having sex… it was horrible. I couldn't stand it! Everyone knew the thing I wanted to forget the most.

I walked up Eli and he studied me. I think he noticed how slumped over I looked.

"You read the comments," he stated.

He told me not too, and I knew it was because he didn't want me to be upset, but our relationship has always been one where we told each other the truth, even if it hurt.

"Yes I did," I said.

He shook his head.

"I told you not too," Eli said.

I sighed and dug my head into his shoulder.

"Everyone knows…" I said. He used his hands to rub my back.

"I know," he whispered before he kissed my head.

"You shouldn't care what people think," Eli said, separating him from me.

"I don't, it's just… they know something so personal about me. My personal business is no longer my personal business, everyone knows!" I explained.

Eli shook his head again and sighed as he pressed himself against the lockers.

"I'm going to kill Ken," Eli proclaimed. I nodded.

"Me too," I said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lauren walking over to us. She seemed a little hesitant, and she had a small sad smile on her face.

"Hey," she said.

She acted so strangely that I knew she had seen everything.

"You saw the picture," I said.

She nodded. She looked down as she pierced her lips together, but her eyes trailed up to something behind me, and her awkward glance turned into a hateful stare.

I followed her eyes to see Asher and Violet, both of them whispering, obviously about us. They laughed as they looked at something on his phone.

"I don't see how a slut like that could call the sweetest girl in the world a slut," Lauren said, trying to cheer me up.

I turned my head back to Lauren and smiled, though it was small and fake.

"Thanks L, but I don't really care what they call me," I said honestly.

She looked pondered, she even cocked her head.

"You don't care what she calls you?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"No, I don't care what people think about me, it's just that…" I said, and I looked up at Eli, and saw him lovingly looking back into my eyes. I turned my attention back on Lauren.

"They know about us," I said, gesturing towards Eli.

Lauren seemed confused, again. She _was _a bit slow…

She looked at the two of us a couple of times, and then a flash bulb went off in her head.

"You mean the office?" Lauren whispered.

I nodded.

Lauren's jaw dropped and she sighed.

"I am so sorry Clare," Lauren said.

I didn't want to talk about it too much, because it was an emotional subject for me to talk about. My sex life should always be _my _sex life, and it should be _my _business, not Ken and his stupid friend's business.

I shook my head, trying to forget about it, and I wiped a tear off from my cheek.

Lauren looked upset, but she again noticed something behind me.

"Uh oh, principal Pajari," she said.

Ever since that one night, we've all been a little hesitant about the principal, because we hoped and prayed to God that nothing was caught on camera.

I hoped he would walk past us, but when he saw the three of us, he almost immediately stopped.

"Ah, just the people I was looking for," he said in his thick Russian accent.

We all looked at him with confusion. He was looking for _us? _Why the hell was he looking for _us? _

"All of you, come with me to my office," he demanded, and reluctantly, we followed him slowly, and all the people who commented on my picture watched us, laughing.

"This is practically proof they had sex in this school. Ugh, I am never going into the nurse's office again," I distantly heard someone say.

"Yeah, and I feel bad for the freshman who have to take gym. They have to change in the locker room!" I heard someone else say.

I held onto Eli's hand, because it was the only thing that made me feel better. I could see out of the corner of my eye, him staring at me, but I didn't look back at him. I didn't want too.

We made it to the sitting area outside of the office, and there were a _lot _of people sitting there. I recognized my mom, Lauren's mom, dad, and step mom, Bullfrog and Cece, and at the very end, were a couple of Asian parents I didn't recognize, so I assumed they were Ken's parents. On the other side of the room sat Ken.

I held back the very strong immediate reaction to slap Ken across the face and beat his ass to the ground.

I felt a strong pain go through my body and mind when I realized what was happening.

"Oh my god, they know too!" I whispered into Eli's chest.

I could tell just by laying my head against his chest that his breathing was hard, and he took a few breaths before speaking up.

"Yeah," was all he said.

Principal Pajari opened his office door and looked at us teens.

"So, who's first? Lauren and Ken, or Eli and Clare?" he asked, his accent intimidating all of us.

I looked at all four of us, and I knew none of wanted to go first, but I knew who should go first.

"Lauren and Ken," I said.

Lauren looked at me like I just told the whole school her biggest secret in the whole world, which was actually what Ken did.

"Clare!" she said.

"The sooner he talks to you and Ken, the sooner you don't ever have to talk to Ken anymore," I said.

Lauren calmed herself and she looked at Ken, and I wished I could kick that stupid smirk off his stupid face. Lauren stormed into the office and Ken followed behind like the coward he was.

Now it was just Eli, me, and all these parents.

I tried not to look any of them in the eye, especially Eli's parents. I really didn't want them to have the wrong idea about me.

Eli and I slowly sat down on the same side Ken was sitting on, and I surely did not _want _too be near his seat, but there was no other room.

It was basically just five minutes of complete awkwardness and the occasional yell you could hear from principal Pajari. I nervously shook as I continued to latch on to Eli's hand, only now it didn't make me feel any better.

Eventually, Lauren and Ken came out, and Lauren was in tears. Her dad rose up and grabbed his daughter, and pointed a mean finger at Ken.

"You stay away from my daughter, you pervert!" he yelled. Ken just stood there with a fake face of surprise.

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" Ken asked his parents.

His dad just shrugged.

"What do you expect? We know what you did to Lauren, and now what you did to Clare. I think you owe them both an apology," his father said in his Japanese accent. I would say that I didn't Ken was Japanese, but I just don't care enough about it him.

Ken just scoffed, and walked out of the room.

Lauren continued to cry as her dad held on to her.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she said.

Her dad just grabbed her bag as his ex-wife and wife stood up to go.

"We're going home," was all he said. He pushed his daughter out, and before she left, Lauren looked at me briefly.

"Eli and Clare, you come in now," Pajari said from inside his office. We got slowly got up and walked in there together. Eli closed the door and we sat in the big red chair in Pajari's Russian inspired office.

He just sat at his desk, rubbing his temples. It took a moment to look at us.

"You know this school has a strict code of conduct," he said.

We nodded.

"The code of conduct is to be followed during all school sanctioned event and on school property, no matter what time of day and night. This is a school of God, and you betrayed God," he said.

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes, the way I usually do when someone mentions God.

"Surveillance camera caught you too in the nurse's office two or three nights ago," he said.

Both me and Eli hanged our heads low, out of shame, guilt, and embarrassment.

"This is a very serious offence. We do not allow any kind of PDA on school property, and having sex on school property is grounds for explosions," he explained.

Every bit of my body froze, and I slowly lifted my head in fear, looking the principal in his eyes.

"You mean…" I said.

He sighed and rubbed his temples again.

"That boy Ken has already worn me out. I'm going to make this simpler. You are both expelled from this school. Go to your lockers, give the teachers there books back, and get your stuff, and leave," he said.

I could just feel the anger and shame that Eli felt, as well as I, but there was nothing we could do. We were guilty.

We slowly rose from our seats, and as we walked out of the office, our parents stood up as well.

My mom had her arms crossed in anger and she looked at me with anger as well.

"I will wait for you in the car," was all she said.

She walked out of the room, and I quickly followed, as I did not want to left in a room with Eli and his parents.

I did as the principal said, and we went home, with my mom yelling at me the whole way. She broke out into tears, as did I.

I was totally embarrassed.

"I knew you had sex with Eli, but at your own school?! In a place of god?! Clare, what were you thinking?!" she yelled.

I just ignored her, because I knew that she wasn't really asking to get an answer.

When we came home, I didn't do anything, except go upstairs.

This was the third school I was expelled from. The third! No one was ever going to want me after this. I lay in my bed, but I still had my school uniform on, and it felt wrong to wear, so I just took it off.

I curled up in my pillow and started crying again. I continued crying as I read a new text message.

**Eli: well, what now?**

I sighed, and began to text back.

**Clare: what do u mean?**

**Eli: I am going back to red wing. What r u going 2 do?**

I sighed even louder, realizing that my mom would probably move me again. Every time I got expelled, we moved, so I assumed that was what was going to happen.

**Clare: I think we will probably move.**

**Eli: what! U can't leave, I love u.**

I smiled at his passion and love, but I knew that moving was probably inevitable.

I didn't want to move this time! The times before I wanted to move, because I hated the area I was in, but not now!

I got up and began pacing the room.

I didn't want to leave Lauren or Eli; I loved them both so much! I even liked this house, and this neighborhood. It was so perfect for us, there had to be another way.

The way my mom is though, she always wants to start over, start fresh. Whenever something bad happens, she tried to renew everything, so that she could basically ignore the problem.

I never wanted to ignore the problems though, I just wanted to move past them so I could move on, but hey, I don't call the shots around here.

If that's true, I know what I wanted to do.

**Clare: pick me up at the pub at 9, and then drive us out to the ledge. There is something I want 2 do.**

_**9:15**_

In Eli's black convertible, we looked up at the beautiful stars, hand in hand. The top was down and the seats were back. I loved being with Eli like this. It was quiet, neither of us talking and the radio wasn't on.

"What am I going to do if you have to move?" he asked suddenly out of the silence.

I looked over at him, and I didn't realize he had been crying.

I rolled over onto my side and wiped his tears with my sleeve.

"You'll be okay," I whispered.

He turned to look at me as well. He moved onto his side and released his hand from mine. He placed his hand on my head and began stroking my hair.

I asked Eli here for a reason. I knew that I had to do this, because it might be the only chance I'll get again. My stomach turned, but I knew I could fight through it. I did it before.

I slowly got up from my seat and laid myself on top of him. I ran my fingers through his hair as I began kissing him. His hands moved around to cup my butt and squeeze it. I slowly began to unbutton his shirt underneath his jacket.

It was a chilly night out, but that didn't bother me.

I slowly parted our lips, and I moved them to his ears.

"I want to have sex again," I whispered.

Eli's movements stopped. I pulled back to look at him, and he didn't have a particular look on his face. It was rather blank.

"I thought you didn't want to have sex again," he said.

"I don't want things to happen like they did last time," he said.

I shook my head.

"It won't. Things are different now. If I move… I just want to have one night with you," I said.

Finally some emotion showed on his face, but it wasn't happy. He looked sad.

"Don't you want to be with me?" I asked.

He looked confused, and now, truly upset.

"Wait, are you saying you will break up with me if I don't have sex with you?" he asked.

I was flabbergasted by his response, but then face palmed me when I realized that I wasn't exactly clear on what I was trying to say.

"No, I mean, don't you want to have sex with me?" I asked.

He smiled with relief.

"Well, yes, of course," he said.

I smiled when he said that. He _wants _me.

"Then what's wrong?" I asked.

His smile went away, and so did mine.

"What if you regret it again?" he asked.

I shook my head. I didn't know how to describe it, but I just knew it would be different.

"I won't, I promise," I said.

He shook his head, and I became frustrated. He really didn't realize what this was to me… I really just wanted to be with my boyfriend one more time before I go.

"Can't I just… have this one night?" I asked.

Eli looked into my eyes, and I tried to hold back the tears. I didn't cry, but I could feel my eyes get glassy. Eli didn't say anything to me; he just moved his hand to the back of my head and pushed my lips onto his.

It was a passionate kiss I really needed, and I let my tears fall on him as the intense kissing began. I rubbed my hips against his, since I was already straddling him. He moaned into the kiss, and I knew he was totally into it.

* * *

_**Sorry this chapter wasn't so nicely written. I am really sick and I have been writing fan fiction for hours now, so yeah...**_


	9. Mom's Decision Time

My whole body relaxed, like a big muscle that suddenly lost its tension. With his penis still inside me, I collapsed upon my beloved Eli. I panted like a dog, trying to get a breath of fresh air. We both finished at the same time, and now we were recovering.

Eli's arm stayed wrapped around me like they were before. He wasn't exactly panting, but he was certainly taking some deep breaths to get some air.

The cool, crisp air felt good against my hot, sweaty skin. I guess we got carried away, and we didn't bring the top back down. We had sex practically out in the open, literally under the stars, in his front car seat.

As we took our time to recover, I asked Eli a question I hadn't thought to ask.

"Hey, what did your parents say when you told them you were coming out here with me?" I asked.

"My parents – don't know I'm here," he said between breathes.

"Really, you lied to your parents?" I asked. It was out of character for him to lie to anyone, even his parents.

"No. They didn't see me leave," he scoffed.

I giggled. Of course, I said Eli always told the truth, I never said he wasn't sneaky about the truth.

I could ever hear him giggle a little, but my happiness faded the more I thought about how mad is parents probably were today.

I rested my chin on his chest to look at him,

"Do they hate me?" I asked.

"No, they just aren't happy with the choice we made," he said.

I sighed, and laid my head back onto his chest.

"No one is," I said.

"Including you," he added.

"Yeah, but it seems like everyone is more upset about it then I was," I said.

Eli didn't say anything. He just rubbed my back. I lay there peacefully. I was starting to actually feel tired, even though it was only 9:47.

"Eli, I'm tired," I said sleepily into his chest.

"I'm not surprised," Eli chuckled.

I laughed along with him. It was kind of funny…

Then I heard my phone ring. It was my default ringtone, which I only had set for people I didn't know. I rose off of Eli and reached over to the other side of the car to grab my phone, in case it was my mother.

It wasn't. It was an unknown number.

I tapped it to open it.

**I have those pictures of u, and I'm not afraid to show every1 them.**

What pictures? Who was texting me?

"Who is it?" Eli asked.

I brushed the hair clinging to my skin out of my face.

"I don't know," I said.

There was another ring closely following. This time, it was a text from Lauren.

**Lauren: Clare, Ken said on FB that u have sum pictures? And he's going to show every1 them? What is he talking about?**

My blood stopped cold. I remembered back to the night I had sex with Eli, Ken said he knew about the pictures, _my _pictures.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked, noticing how upset I was.

I looked up and back at my phone. You have to be kidding me. You have to be _freaking kidding me!_

"It's Ken, he says… he has pictures of me," I said.

"Pictures?" Eli asked.

I look back up to Eli. I didn't want to tell Eli the truth to be totally honest. I wanted to erase the memory of me taking those stupid pictures from my brain forever, but that wouldn't be truthful, and Eli has always been truthful to me. He deserves that I be the same to him.

I sighed and laid my phone down on his chest.

I took a deep breath, deciding where to begin.

"You remember I told you about the drugs, and the drinking. I never told you… that I was an alcoholic," I said.

Eli looked at me, and he looked like a mix of madness, sadness, and confusion.

"You're an alcoholic. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

I could feel my eyes burn again for the second time tonight.

"Because I did a lot of stupid stuff back then," I said. I couldn't even begin to list every pathetic thing I had done. It was a really hard time for me. Its why when I was doing drugs, my mom automatically assumed it was an addiction.

It's also why I always had a bad relationship with my mom. I hated that she sent me to a rehab.

Eli's face lightened up as I began to cry. I think he saw that it was something that I wasn't able to deal with very well.

"Is that what those pictures are from?" Eli asked.

I nodded my head.

"The guy I was buying alcohol from… he originally had me pay thirty-six dollars, and then he jacked it up to like, a hundred-five dollars. He knew I couldn't pay it, so he said I could pay for it another way," I said. I didn't go any further, so I just hoped Eli caught the hint.

He nodded his head.

"You gave him dirty pictures of you," he said.

I shook my head and lay back against Eli's chest and cried.

Eli began to rub my back again, but then he stopped and sat up, scaring the shit out of me.

"Wait, you said, Ken has those pictures? How did he get them?" he asked.

"I guess he just got a hold of them. The guy I gave them too gave them to his friends at the high school I used to go to. They put them online and they were arrested, but the police couldn't find the actual pictures. I don't know where they are, but I guess Ken has them," I said.

I was now sitting on Eli's lap and the blanket had fallen off us. Now we were both truly naked out in the open.

"He's threatening to show everyone, unless he already has," I cried even harder into his shoulder.

It was silent for a moment before Eli lifted me off his lap.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I fell into the other seat naked.

"Put your clothes on," Eli said grabbing the scraps of clothes the belonged to me around his car.

"What are you doing?" I asked again as he threw the clothes at me.

"I'm going to teach Ken a lesson," he said, and he pulled his boxers on.

_**Half an Hour Later**_

Eli was parked outside some house down in the city, away from my house up in the hills.

"Eli, what are we doing here?" I asked, looking in at the windows. I had no idea where we were. There was obviously a party going on.

He didn't say anything to me, he just simply jumped out of the car and closed the door. I nearly followed him before he turned around and said "Don't get out of this car."

"Eli!" I shouted after him as he continued to walk inside.

"Eli!" I shouted again as he walked into the house.

Great, my boyfriend ignored me and now I'm stuck outside in the car! Why did he always have to so stubborn?!

I waited anxiously, looking around at all the sketchy characters. There was a group of guys standing off to the side drinking a bottle of whisky, but they didn't really see me, so I ignored them.

I felt strange, this house, I didn't know why though.

I soon heard a bunch of commotion from inside the house. Most of it was girls screaming, but I figured it was no big deal. Party girls scream about nothing, I would know. I at least hoped it was nothing since my Eli was in there.

After the noise died down, I saw Eli walking back to the car, shaking his hand.

"Eli, what did you do?" I asked as he got back in the car.

He didn't hesitate at all to tell me the truth.

"I punched him," he said, out of breath.

I noticed his hand all red, and his chest was puffing, so I knew he was upset.

"You punched Ken?" I asked.

"No, I punched Frosty. The Snowman," he said sarcastically.

Great, this was exactly what I needed. Ken was threatening to post dirty pictures of me on the internet after he already got a whole group of people to harass me on my picture, and Eli, like the genius he is, decides to punch the dude.

"Eli, you're an idiot! Now he's definitely going to post those pictures online!" I shouted, hitting him.

He backed away from, as much as he could in a car.

"If he does, I'll handle it," he replied.

God, an hour ago we were making love under the stars, and now he's punching people and threatening them.

I took a deep sigh and looked outside. I just didn't want to deal with this stupid Ken drama anymore.

Eli checked the time on the dashboard of his car.

"I have to take you home now," he said.

I was slightly thrown off when he said that, but I realized I was getting close to my curfew of 10:30, and we could be late, considering his house was in the city and mine was in the mountain.

I nodded my head, and he pulled out of the driveway and starting driving up hill. I leaned my head against the window and looked at the stars and houses as we passed.

There were a few moments of silence as he began driving, until he finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry I did that," he started. I turned my head back to look at him.

"I just been under a lot of stress lately, with being expelled, you moving, the whole Ken thing. He just makes me sick sometimes, I don't know why I was ever his friend," he said.

I could tell he was telling the truth, but there was something else on my mind that I had been wondering ever since I told him about the pictures.

"Let me ask you something," I said.

Eli didn't really do much. He was driving, so he couldn't just turn around and have a conversation with me, so I started when I saw his eyebrow cocked.

"Why weren't you upset when I told you about the pictures? Shouldn't you have been mad?" I asked.

He pierced eyebrows together and frowned, something I knew he did when he was confused.

"Why would I be mad?" he asked.

"Well, I took dirty pictures of myself, and gave them to someone else," I said.

I knew that if he had done that with someone else, I would be mad.

He just shook his head.

"So? We didn't know each other," he said.

"Aren't you at least a jealous that some guy has pictures of me?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"I'm sure I would be if you were with me at the time, but what you did back then doesn't affect me now," he replied.

I opened my jaw at the ignorance of his words.

"It obviously does. You just punched a guy because of those pictures," I said.

"I punched a guy because he threatened to show those pictures to a bunch of strangers online. You're my girlfriend now, and when someone threatens something like that, then it does bother me, but the fact that you took those pictures years ago doesn't," he explained.

I leaned back up against my door, and looked at my boyfriend in awe. I could see that it really didn't bother him. He had a totally open mind about it. He was so… generous. I definitely didn't deserve generosity.

"Are you mad?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the road.

I nodded my head.

"No. I'm happy you're not upset," I said.

He smiled and finally gave me a glance, and laid his hand on my leg. He continued to drive me home.

_**The Next Morning**_

I woke up dreading the day. The two times I got expelled before, my mom moved us the day after. She always said "time is of the essence," and that apparently meant that if I got expelled, we had to move the very next day, and apply to a new school the very next day after that.

My bed felt warm and soft, and I didn't want to leave it, so in my hoodie and sweatpants, I tried to get myself to fall asleep, and when that didn't work, I tried to at least act asleep, so that if she did come in, she wouldn't bother me.

An hour and a half went by though, and she still didn't come in to get me. It was already pretty late in the morning, so I decided that maybe I should just get myself up.

I slumped downstairs in my pajamas and turned the corner to walk into the kitchen, and I was surprised by the site; my mom and dad at the table together. I hadn't seen my dad in a long time. It hardly ever came around, so I stopped counting the days, weeks, and months.

When they saw me, they both looked up.

"Hey sweetie," my dad said awkwardly.

I was so mad that he would just randomly show up. Besides, he doesn't get to not shot up for months on end, and then be all sweet.

"Don't call me sweetie," I said.

My mother looked up from her cup of tea with her laptop in front of her. She definitely looked mad.

"Sit," she said, pointing to the table in front of her.

I sat down across from her and next to my dad without saying anything. My mom didn't even look me in the eyes.

She turned the screen around so I could see what was on the computer, but she didn't give me time to read. She simply explained.

"You will not be moving like we did before. You will be going to an online school now. This isn't exactly an alternative school, it's just an online school," she said.

"Yeah, it's public," my dad butted in. My mom ignored him.

"You are to do your lessons everyday and on time. I have had it up to here with you," she said with her hand flat at ear level.

"You have caused me so much trouble, and I am quite frankly sick of it, which is why things are completely going to change. Your father has recently moved into the area. He will help me with parenting. You know that with my job, I may be gone for extended amounts of time, so, when I am not around, he will be," my mom said.

I didn't even really know what to think about that, so I just laughed. My dad is going to help my mom? That's _hysterical_.

"He's going to be here when you're not? What is he going to move in? He's going to fit his work schedule to work around yours?" I asked.

Both my parents looked at me like I just broke every single plate they own and spilled ink on all of their clothes.

"Your father is a freelancer. If he comes here, he can work from the spare room we have that I will set up as his office," she explained.

I shook my head. He literally could not believe he would agree to this. He has never been a part of my life, why would he agree to do something like this. It was such a big change!

"Clare, I know I haven't been here for you very much," he started, but I interrupted.

"You've _never _been here," I spat out.

"You didn't bring me home, you never put me to bed, you never fed me, you've never lived with me, you were never there for my milestones, you've never introduce me to your family members, you never disciplined me, you weren't there for my birthdays or for holidays, you didn't potty train me, you never took me to school, you were never there for my sports stuff, you don't talk to me, you weren't here when I was a recovering alcoholic, you've never given me a bath, you weren't there for after-school activities, you did nothing!" I said, counting everything on my fingers.

My mom and dad both looked like they were mad, sad, and disappointed. Actually, they looked like they had a lot going through their minds, but that's what I took from it.

My dad laid his hand over mine.

"I know. I was a horrible father for you growing. That's what happens when you make bad decisions as a teenager," he said. I assume he was referring to me, but I would never make that mistake.

"Your father did make mistakes, but you don't see me hanging your mistakes over _your _head," my mother said.

I wanted to punch her in the mouth right then and there. She couldn't possible compare him being a horrible person who doesn't take care of his own damn child to me drinking or doing drugs. They were totally different. I didn't scare someone. I didn't have a life I was responsible for.

"I didn't abandon my own child," I said out loud.

They both shared an exchange of looks. I think they even knew I was right, and that even I better morals than my father.

My mother took a deep sigh before continuing.

"Never the less, you _will _be disciplined, and there will be a new set of rules and boundaries, which are all written on this sheet of paper. I will type them out, laminate it, and hang it up somewhere you will see it every day so you will not forget about your new set of rules," she explained.

I rolled my eyes. Another set of stupid rules, and now they would be hung up that anyone who comes over will see it.

"Every thing we wrote down is something we believe will most benefit you. We realize that being super strict on you won't help," my mom began.

I laid my arms on top of each other and laid my chin on my hand. I cocked my eyebrow, waiting to listen to what she had to say. This should be interesting…

"You will have a whole set of chores you will need to do all around the house, that includes my bedroom, and your fathers soon to be home office. You will go to an etiquette class so you can learn good manners, so you don't have trouble with adults and strangers. I could care less about the little tiffs you get in with your friends," she said.

I rolled my eyes again.

"Your curfew is now eleven," she continued.

That seemed odd. They were yelling at me because of being rebellious, and now they are extending my curfew?

"You're letting me stays out later?" I asked.

"Let me continue," she said.

"You will take a driver's ED class, so you will learn how to drive," my mom said.

"And, you will not be using your phone while you drive. There will be consequences for that," my dad added.

"We considered doing a program for troubled teens, but we decided we would rather have more control over what kind of discipline you get. You will get a job, whatever it may be, so that you are working, doing something with your hands, and making your own money, so that you see what the value of a dollar is. I will help you apply for as many jobs as we can, even if it's just flipping hamburgers. You will learn to manage your money, and there will be a consequence for every lie that you tell," my mother said.

I looked at her, expecting her to continue, but she just stared right back at me.

"Is that all?" I asked

"All?" my dad asked.

"You have etiquette classes, chores, driving school, and a job now, not to mention your online classes that are to be on time every day," my dad said.

I understood that it was a lot, but it just seemed like so little compared to my mom's usual behavior.

"I know, it just… I was expecting more," I explained.

"If your father and I see another issue, we'll deal with it. Otherwise, this should be enough. You're going to be busy, pretty much every day. You'll have time for friends and Eli, but when they come over, one of us will be around. I don't quite trust you around anyone right now," she clarified.

I nodded my head. As long as this meant I didn't have to move, I was happy. I even started to smile.

"You're happy about all this?" my dad asked.

He snapped be back to reality as I began to day dream about my beloved Eli.

"I'm just happy I don't have to move away. I think I'm starting to like this place," I said. My head was still on the table.

My mom sighed and leaned back in chair. As she raised her coffee cup, I thought I saw, perhaps, a small smile? She took a sip, and sat her drink back down.

"If his parents will allow it, you can go over to Eli's house to tell him the good news, but you'll have to ride your bike," my mom said, motioning to the front door.

I sat up and looked at her like she was crazy. She's all up and down today! I'm a rebel, but she's letting me stay out longer? She doesn't trust me, but she's letting me go see my boyfriend? I didn't question it though. I simply grabbed my phone off the table and began walking to the door. I slipped my shoes on that were in the foyer.

"Don't forget your helmet!" she yelled from in the kitchen.

"I won't," I replied.

I left the house, and I looked at the mist mountain side in total shock. Like, total and utter shock. To be honest, driving and working were things I wanted to do, and now I wouldn't have to move! I was still pretty upset about my dad, but hey, who cares?! I'm staying! I did a little happy dance outside, before pulling on my helmet, hopping on my bike, and riding to Eli's house to tell him the good news.


	10. The Test

_**One Month Later**_

I collapsed on my bed with a big sighed. My hips, back, and feet all tensed up before finally relaxing. This month had been the craziest one I'd had. When my parents said they were going to do something, they did it.

My dad came over almost every day whenever my mom wasn't. He mostly did work in his office or downstairs, but he would occasionally do dad stuff. We'd watch a movie occasionally, or we'd go for a drive or out to eat.

My chores list was extensive. I had to make the bed, bring any dishes and cups from my room down into the kitchen, empty my lunch bag out, clean the sink and counter every time I was done using it, put my clothes in the hamper, create my to-do list for the next day, take a bowl or utensil to the dishwasher every single time I was done with one, clean the microwave, toaster, and counter every time I used it, strip the sheets off all the beds and put them in the hamper, empty all the trash, clean out the cars, clean out my book bag, organize my dresser, go through all my school papers, test the smoke alarms, change the batteries in all the remotes, change all the toilet papers and paper towels, replace all the light bulbs, search for mates of all the odd socks, dust all the ceiling lights and fans, and shake out all the bedroom area rugs. Yeah, I was doing _everyone's _chores.

I had etiquette classes every Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00.

My driver's ED class was online, so I was able to go at my own pace, but I had to get at least one lesson done every week.

I worked as a cashier at a fast food restaurant. When I came home, I always smelt like chicken.

Every day when I found time I did my classes online.

I was always busy, but I would occasionally find time to spend with Eli. Lauren was still grounded by her parents. They were super mad when they found out she wasn't a virgin _and _that she'd had sex on school property, they grounded her for two months. I wasn't grounded, just perpetually altered. Eli was also not grounded for very long.

My phone on the table buzzed off near my head and I picked it up. It was from Lauren, strangely.

**Lauren: Clare, I stole my phone back. I need 2 tell u something. U there?**

If her parents found out, I knew they would furious, but whatever.

**Clare: ya, I'm here.**

**Lauren: I really need Ur love and support right now. I just found out I'm preg. I'm sorry I'm telling u on the phone, but I can't talk 2 u any other way, as u no.**

My stomach fell to my feet. Oh Lauren, your parents are definitely going to kill you now! There is no way she could be pregnant, not with Ken of all people!

**Clare: OMG L. u has 2 b kidding me! U r not!**

**Lauren: ya I am. Ken said his life was just 2 important for him 2 raise a baby, so I have 2 do it on my own, but I would rather do it on my own than do it with that sack of crap.**

My blood boiled to _way _high, like hotter than the sun. Ken was by the far the biggest piece of nasty horrid scum I had ever met in my life, and I had met a lot of scum's.

**Clare: u wills b a good mom w/out him. What r u going 2 do?**

**Lauren: idk, but I will figure it out. Don't worry. But Clare, I need 2 ask u something, since I found out.**

**Clare: ya?**

I went into the bathroom and began combing my hair out. The stupid hat I had to wear always knotted my hair up in the back. I pondered what Lauren could be asking me.

**Lauren: Clare, u wouldn't be pregnant 2, would u?**

I stared at my screen in shock. For a moment, I almost thought about why Lauren would ask me such a question. Why would she ask if I was pregnant? Then I wondered, was I?

I ran to my calendar in my room and looked to see when my period was supposed to be, since I always marked it on the calendar.

I was supposed to start three days ago.

I thought back to this past week. I supposed I had some of the signs. I was extra sleepy this week, but then again, I had a lot on my plate. I did feel sick too. When Eli tried to cop a feel that one night, I had to whip his hand back because it hurt. My boss yelled at me for going to the bathroom so often. I had cried a few times this week, and I didn't know why. I also had craving for beef broccoli, a Chinese dish I really didn't like all that much.

Oh god, oh god, oh god… no…

I looked at the time and it was only 10:08. I would still have time to buy a pregnancy test.

**Clare: idk. Ill txt u when I find out.**

I decided that this was a big moment, so I might as well tell Eli as to.

**Clare: Eli, u no how we r always honest?**

I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs.

**Eli: ya?**

**Clare: well, I feel like I should tell u I am going 2 go 2 the store to buy a pregnancy test.**

My mom was home from work, and my dad was packing his stuff up and getting ready to leave. I couldn't drive yet, and it was already dark, so even though I didn't want to, I had to ask my mom to take me.

"Hey mom, I need you to take me to the store," I nervously said, barely able to keep it together.

My mom looked up from the TV to look me in the eyes.

"Is everything okay?" my mom asked.

I panicked. I'm not allowed to lie, unless I want to suffer the consequences.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"What do you need to get?" my dad asked, looking up from his stuff.

I felt sick again, and I decided that I utterly hated these new rules.

"You said I'm not allowed to lie anymore," I pointed out before I began.

My mom and dad both nodded their head.

"I need to get a pregnancy test," I said. I barely got it out, but when I did, I wish I had taken it back and waited until tomorrow to get it.

My mom sat up and looked at me with anger. My dad's face didn't change much, other than his mouth opening.

"Clare!" my mom said.

I couldn't stand to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," was all I could say.

My mom sighed and fell back into her seat. My dad slowly shut his suitcase.

"I guess we better hurry. The store closes at 10:30 and it takes 15 minutes to get there," my dad said.

"No, I'll take her. Lock the door when you leave," my mom said, getting up from her seat. She walked past me practically pushing me out of the way. I could feel my face practically bunch up and I tried to cover up my ugly cry.

My dad walked over to me and hugged me. He gave me a peck on the top of the head.

"It'll be okay kitten," he said.

For the first time, I let myself open up to him.

"I just don't want her to have another reason to hate me," I cried into his shirt.

"She doesn't hate you, she's just scared you're going to make the same mistakes we did," he said. It was something I had heard a million times, but every time it got harder to believe it.

"Let's go Clare," my mom said at the front door.

I gathered myself as best as I could, and walked to the front door.

We got into the dark car and sat in silence. As she started the car, I got another text from Eli.

**Eli: I feel like I should b there. Would that b weird?**

**Clare: no, of course not! It's just that we won't be able to get u and go to the store. It closes soon.**

**Eli: then, can I b there whenever u takes it?**

**Clare: I was planning to take it after I bought it. Would that b ok?**

**Eli: ya, that is perfect.**

It was still complete silence, so it took me time to choke out my words.

"When we come home, can we pick up Eli? He wants to be there when I take the test," I asked.

We came to a red light, but it felt like my mom pounded the brakes a little too hard.

"You want to take it tonight?" my mom asked.

"Yeah, isn't knowing sooner better than knowing later?" I asked.

My mom shook her head and continued to not look at me.

"I'd have to go out of my way to get him," she said, which was her way of saying no.

**Clare: can u drive 2 my house?**

**Eli: ya.**

There, problem solved.

_**An Hour Later**_

I sat on Eli's lap on my bed and he rubbed my hand with his thumb. My mom was standing at the door. I had finished taking the test, and now we were waiting for the result. It took three minutes.

My mom and Eli hadn't spoken to each other. I barely spoke to my mom either. I hadn't even looked my mom in the eyes since we left the house.

I slowly lifted my head to look at her.

"I'm sorry," was all I could get out.

My mom switched her attention to a random spot in the room to me. Her eyes twitched around the room.

"Me too," she said.

Next to us my alarm on my phone went off, signaling that it was time to check the pregnancy test.

I nearly jumped so much; I thought I would pee all over me and Eli.

Eli gave my back a gentle rub before I got up. I walked into the bathroom and grabbed the white pregnancy test.

In little black words read **Pregnant.**


	11. Telling Lauren

For the last 30 seconds, my mom just stood there, wide eyed, jaw dropped, hand over mouth. I knew my mom was shocked, and so was I. Eli was still here as well. We were all processing the news, obviously. My mom always told me that she didn't want me to make the same mistakes she did. I guess I let her down.

Without saying a word, my mom left the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door was totally closed, I leaned into my Eli's shoulder and cried.

He immediately wrapped me up in his arms. He held onto me tightly while I sobbed.

I think I could occasionally hear him cry as well, but I couldn't see him.

It took a few minutes, but my mom quickly rushed back into my room. She was holding her laptop, and she sat it on my lap. On it was a website that said **Teen Outstretch Pregnancy Services.**

I examined the home page of the website.

"What is this?" I asked her.

"It's a teenage pregnancy support group. It's nearby, and there are classes about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting, and there is a class especially for dads. I would like both of you to go, if you decide to go alone with the pregnancy," my mom said.

I looked up at her like she was crazy. _If _I decide to go along with the pregnancy?

"Of course were going to go through with the pregnancy, right?" Eli asked.

"Right," I said.

My mom nodded.

"I want you to but, it's your decision," my mom said.

I nodded my head and looked back at the screen. It looked pretty extensive for just some support group. Before I could really look at everything though, she took the laptop out of my hands. She sat down next to me on my bed.

"I want you both to know that, you have options," she said. Looking at her, I could tell she'd been crying.

"You can get an abortion. I know you said that you want to go through with the pregnancy, but that's an option and it's there. There is also a closed adoption or an open adoption, or you could keep the baby," my mom said.

I thought every little think through. An abortion was totally out of the question for me. I also knew that adopt would be so hard. I didn't know if I could ever do something like that. I had seen horror stories and pain from adoption, and I didn't want to put myself through that.

"What's the difference between a closed adopt and an open adoption?" Eli asked.

"A closed adoption means that your identity is not revealed to the baby, and your information Eli, may not even be recorded. An open adoption means that the adoptive family would have access to your information and you guys may be able to contact each other," my mom explained.

"I don't want to do that," I decided.

Both of them turned their bodies to look at me.

"You don't want to do what?" my mom asked.

"I don't want to give the baby up for adoption," I said.

My mom rubbed my hand and Eli kissed my ear.

"You may change your mind as time goes on. You may decide later on that adoption is the best option for you, or you may not. Though, I would be lying if I said that I didn't want you to keep it," my mom said.

My mom surprised me with that statement. She wants _me _to keep my baby?

"You do?" I asked.

She nodded her head.

"I want you to keep the baby, but it's your choice," she said. She got up from the bed and grabbed her laptop as she started to leave.

"Eli, do you need to get home by a curfew?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm actually already late," Eli said nonchalantly.

My mom widened her eyes again.

"Then I guess you should start heading home. I don't want you to get in trouble," she said.

She turned and left. I turned to Eli and looked at him.

"You should go. Your already going to get in trouble when they find out I'm pregnant. Don't want to piss them off even more," I said.

Eli ran his fingers over my cheek.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" he asked.

I chuckled.

"I don't think that's even an option," I said honestly.

He smirked, and leaned in to give me on last passionate kiss before getting up and leaving.

"Hey," I said before he walked out of my room completely.

"Do you want to… maybe, go out to eat tomorrow? Go to the steak house, maybe bring Lauren?" I asked.

He shoved his hands in his pocket and puffed his chest out, which was what he did when he was confused or upset.

"You want to bring Lauren? You've been spending so much time with her…" Eli said.

I knew where he was going to go with this, but it was really important that Lauren and I spent time together.

"Lauren just found out she's pregnant too," I said.

Eli looked at me with his eyes open wide and his head cocked to me.

"She's pregnant too? She's having Kens baby?" Eli asked, clearly flabbergasted, as was I when I heard the news.

I nodded my head.

"This is how I know you've been spending too much time together. Your cycles match up," he said.

I giggled, but I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not, so I kept it down.

He went from being goofy to serious in the flip of a coin though.

"Sure, we can invite Lauren," he said.

I smiled, and got up to hug him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. He wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Thank you," I whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome," he mumbled into my shoulder.

I pulled back, looked into his green eyes, and kissed him as passionately as he kissed me. He pulled back and smiled. I watched him leave from the top of the stairs.

_**The Next Day at the Steakhouse**_

Eli had his arm wrapped around me in the booth. Lauren was sitting across the table from us. We were chewing on our favorite bread with cinnamon butter. We had yet to Lauren about the pregnancy, but she wasn't afraid to talk about hers. She didn't talk about it too much, but she did tell us she wasn't feeling too good lately and she asks that I keep my tea away from her because the smell was too much for her. We had finished ordering out food and we were just waiting now.

"Excuse me ladies, I need to use the restroom," Eli said, leaving the booth.

I looked over at Lauren who was just fidgeting with her phone. I could tell that even though she loathed Ken, she didn't want that bastard to get away with everything he'd done. He was such a horrible person. Today was supposed to be the night I told her about my pregnancy though, but it felt sort of self fish. I watched as she kept flipping her phone over on the table, and her eyes met mine.

"Is everything Okays Clare?" she asked.

My stomach stated to fill with acid and a million thoughts ran through my mind. Should I tell her now? Does Eli want to be here when I tell her? I doubt he even cares. Would it be a bad idea?

"Have you told you parents yet?" I asked, trying to divert my mind. Lauren chuckled.

"No way in hell. I think they would probably kick me out," she said.

"Oh," I said. It didn't work. I was still nervous. I was still upset.

"Clare, what's wrong with you?" Lauren asked. I could tell she was beginning to get worried, but it just didn't seem right. Still, she asked me a question, and my parents told me to never lie, and so did Eli, so I didn't.

"I'm nervous," I said honestly. I started fidgeting with my own hands under the table.

"Why? Is it because of me?" Lauren asked.

"Partly, but it's mostly because I need to tell you that I'm pregnant," I said, not even looking her in the eyes. I didn't know if she'd be mad at me, or if she would be happy, or sad, or what. Her symptoms seemed to be worse than mine, so maybe she would be extra weepy. I finally slowly trailed my eyes up to meet hers, and she was just sat back in her chair, staring me dead in the eye.

"You too?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"Wow," was all she said. We sat in silence for a moment. Both of us were trying to find out what we were going to say next.

"So I guess were due the same time," Lauren said. I chuckled, trying to relieve the tension.

"Well yeah, since we conceived the same time," I said. I looked back up at Lauren, and I could see the tension melt off. She slowly began to smile, and pretty soon her shoulder started to bounce up and down, and she began to laugh.

"We are such sluts," she laughed. I gasped, but I started to laugh too. She was right, we kind were sluts! The two of us just started laughing with each other and everyone around began to look at us strange, but we didn't care. Lauren sat up and took a deep breath in, trying to gather her, and I just stopped laughing. Eli came back and took his seat back next to me, but looked at both Lauren and I, and cocking his eyebrows.

"Wait, are you guys keeping the baby?" Lauren asked before she went any further. I kind of wished she hadn't blurted that out so that I would be able to tell Eli that Lauren knew, but I guess I wouldn't have done it any smoother.

"Yeah," I said.

"Oh good, so am I. Now I won't have to go through it alone! I'll have you guys!" Lauren said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eli roll his eyes, but I ignored it. Lauren reached over the table and held my hand.

"We can go to those weird Lamaze classes together, and buy baby things together, and buy matching cheeky 'buns in the oven' t-shirts," Lauren said, but when she got to the t-shirt part, she began cracking up again. I began to laugh too. I had been so nervous about this since I found out, but luckily she reacted positively about this.

"If you think Lamaze classes are so weird, then why do you want to do them?" Eli asked bluntly, typical Eli style. Lauren just rolled her eyes.

"Because that's just what you do when you're pregnant, Eli," Lauren said, acting like Eli was an idiot. I couldn't help but giggle a little. Eli gave me a playful stink eye.

"We're going to be mommies at the same time!" Lauren said.


	12. Clare's Blog Post - 1 Year Later

_**One Year Later, Clare's Blog POV**_

Well, this past year has definitely been a crazy one. I went from crazy part girl, to loner, to slut, to obedient house wrench, to mom.

After Eli and I decided to have the baby, my mother was pretty happy with that choice. Luckily, she was very supportive. My mom has always been such a strict mother, that I honestly didn't know how she would handle everything, but she has been perfect, a great grandma to her grandbaby.

After much debating and decision making, Eli and I decided to move into the city. Now, I used to live in the hills, but when I city, I mean the big city, which is what we call it. Any other person would say it's not a big deal, but it was almost an hour away from home. Eli and I unexpectedly got jobs in the city. I got a job at a retail store, and Eli got a job at a coffee shop, as well as an internship with a magazine company. We decided we would keep going to school. Eli decided to jump on the band wagon and do online school with me. He even is taking online college classes now.

When Lauren told her parents about being pregnant, they were mad. I mean _really, really _mad. They didn't throw her out immediately, but they told her she would have to move out before the baby came. Reluctantly, we gave Lauren a place to stay at our apartment. Given that we only had a two bedroom apartment and one room was the nursery, Lauren has to sleep in the living room. We put a bed in there and everything, and since Eli and I decided to co sleep with our baby, the nursery is practically hers. Ken never did step up to help with the baby, but we did hunt his ass down, and his parents pay child support since he is still a minor.

The three of us all live pretty okay and comfortably, but then three turned to five.

We had our babies on the same day, April 24. She gave birth to a girl, Gretchen Angel Smith. I gave birth to a boy, Adam Parker Goldsworthy. They came home the same day. That was fun for all of us. Luckily my mom came and stayed on an air mattress to help the three of us out with our babies.

Welcoming the babies' home was as smooth as it could be. The babies both learned to sleep through the night pretty quickly, despite their young age. They have been growing at a perfect rate. Lauren and I have gone a wee bit crazy, making every thing was child safe, even though we don't have children, and we have babies. Still, everything is ready for when they are. Living with the babies has been a challenge to figure out, but the rewards so far have always been worth it.

Right now, little Gretchen and Adam are both three months old. We like to do all those cutesy annoying motherly things and Eli always rolls his eyes, but he loved being a dad. He loves taking little Adam out for walks and he likes holding him. A lot of the time, Adam will sleep in Eli's armpit, which is way cuter than it sounds.

I even once heard Eli talking to Adam, telling him all the things they were going to do together, like play games and sports, which Eli doesn't even like, but I would never tell Eli I heard that.

Right now, Eli and I are doing fairly successful in both of our jobs, and we've been saving up a lot of money, so we are talking about the idea of eventually moving into a house. We don't know what Lauren would do if we moved out, but Lauren have to learn to be independent.

Things have always been crazy in my life, and I'm sure that if anyone from my old school were to see me now, they would just laugh their asses off and say 'I told you so," but honestly, being a mom has changed me for the better. I've learned to think before I do, talk before I freak out, and love before I get scared. I know not all of that makes sense, but I've done thinks that don't make sense, so bare with me.

I know I still have many years to go. My baby is only three months old. As long as he keeps growing than so will I, but at least I have a pretty handsome guy to help me get through this.

Oh yeah, and Eli's not too bad either ;) We are even thinking about getting married this summer.

* * *

_**Make of it what you will :)**_


End file.
